The most storied rivalry in basketball drew strong numbers for ABC on Sunday.
Sunday’s Lakers/Celtics game, won by the Lakers in the final seconds, drew a 3.5 final rating and 5.7 million viewers on ABC — up 25% in ratings from both Spurs/Lakers last year (2.8) and Cavaliers/Lakers in ’08 (2.8).
Excluding Christmas Day games, Lakers/Celtics stands as the second-most viewed regular season NBA telecast on ABC since the network began airing games in ’02. Only Lakers/Cavaliers last February drew more viewers (6.1 mil).
Additionally, the 3.5 rating is tied as the second-highest for a non-Christmas regular season game on the network.
To put the numbers in perspective, no regular season Yankees/Red Sox game has drawn a 3.5 rating or higher since 2007, and no Duke/North Carolina game has drawn a rating that high since 2005.
Though Lakers/Celtics was easily the highest rated, most-viewed sporting event of the week on broadcast, the game finished well behind the Pro Bowl, which aired on cable network ESPN (7.1, 12.3 mil).
Earlier Sunday, Nuggets/Spurs drew a 1.6 final rating and 2.3 million viewers, down 6% in ratings from Mavericks/Celtics last year (1.7), and down 11% from Celtics/Magic in ’08 (1.8).
Highest rated, most-viewed regular season NBA games on ABC
Excluding Christmas Day games
Sorted by rating
| # | Date | Result | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun., 2/8/09 | Lakers 101 | ABC |
3.8
|
6,077
|
| Cavaliers 91 | |||||
| 2 | Sun., 1/31/10 | Lakers 90 | ABC |
3.5
|
5,655
|
| Celtics 89 | |||||
| 3 | Sun., 4/4/04 | Spurs 95 | ABC |
3.5
|
5,068
|
| Lakers 89 | |||||
| 4 | Sun., 2/16/03 | Spurs 104 | ABC |
3.5
|
4,708
|
| Kings 101 | |||||
| 5 | Sun., 3/9/03 | 76ers 92 | ABC |
3.4
|
4,723
|
| Lakers 106 |
(Nielsen)
