The NBA Finals may not look promising, but that is perhaps the only damper on what has thus far been the strongest NBA Playoffs in years.
The first three rounds of the NBA Playoffs averaged 4.71 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV, the highest at this point of the postseason since 2012 (4.9M). Games on ESPN and ABC have averaged 5.6 million, up 9% from last year and the networks’ highest average since the same 2012 playoffs. TNT games averaged 4.7 million, up 14% and its highest since 2018.
The three-round average is off just 1% from last year’s full-postseason mark, including the NBA Finals (4.77M).
The postseason has included the largest non-Finals NBA audience since 2018 (Heat-Celtics Game 7: 12.0M); the two most-watched conference final series since 2018 (Nuggets-Lakers: 7.9M; Heat-Celtics: 7.4M); the most-watched second round game since 2012 (Warriors-Lakers Game 6: 8.6M) and series since 1996 (Lakers-Warriors: 7.8M); and the most-watched first round game since 1999 (Warriors-Kings Game 7: 9.8M).
A total eight playoff games have averaged at least eight million viewers this postseason — tied with 2018 as the most prior to the Finals since 2012. Fifteen have averaged at least seven million, topping 2018 as the highest before the Finals since 2012 (19).
NBA playoff games with at least eight million viewers, per year
As with all historical comparisons, keep in mind that out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen final nationals prior to three years ago.
This year’s NBA Playoffs was the first in five years to feature both LeBron James and Stephen Curry, whose teams won competitive first round series to set up their first head-to-head playoff meeting since 2018. Between Golden State, the Lakers and Boston, the league’s three biggest television draws in the regular season, all three won a series and two advanced to the conference finals. More than half of the games this postseason (43 of 79) — and the 23 most-watched — have involved at least one of those three teams.
The most-watched game this postseason to involve none of the three was Knicks-Heat Game 4 in the second round (5.44M), though that will change when the Heat-Nuggets NBA Finals begins Thursday.
