The NBA Draft Lottery and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals proved to be a winning combination for ESPN Tuesday night.
The Draft Lottery drew a 2.1 cable rating and 2 million households yesterday, making it the highest rated, most viewed Draft Lottery ever on ESPN. The previous record was set last year, when Greg Oden and Kevin Durant were up for grabs.
More impressive were the numbers for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics’ Game 1 win over the Pistons drew a 4.4 cable rating and 5.4 million viewers, up 57% and 59% respectively from a 2.8 rating with 3.4 million viewers for the comparable Jazz/Spurs Game 2 last year. The 4.4 rating is the highest for Game 1 of a Conference Final since Heat/Pistons Game 1 drew a 4.5 on ESPN two years ago.
Only two Conference Finals games last year (Games 5 and 6 of the Cavaliers/Pistons series) drew better numbers than Game 1.
