Though still not at the level of the Miami Heat post-Decision, the Golden State Warriors have become easily the biggest draw in the NBA.
Thursday’s Spurs/Warriors NBA regular season game scored a 2.2 final rating and 3.4 million viewers on TNT, up 69% in ratings and 84% in viewership from Blazers/Warriors last year (1.3, 1.9M) and up 144% and 163%, respectively, from Nuggets/Warriors in 2014 (0.9, 1.3M).
The Warriors’ 70th win scored the fifth-largest audience of the season on cable, behind Spurs/Rockets on Christmas night (3.9M), Warriors/Cavaliers on Martin Luther King Day (3.6M), Thunder/Warriors in March (3.6M) and Cavaliers/Bulls on Opening Night (3.5M). Including games on ABC, it ranks a more pedestrian 13th. The Warriors have played in nine of the season’s fifteen most-watched games regardless of network.
In Thursday’s undercard, Bulls/Heat had a 1.1 and 1.6 million — flat in ratings and down 7% in viewership from the same matchup last year (1.1, 1.7M) and flat and down 2%, respectively, from Spurs/Mavericks in 2014 (1.1, 1.6M).
As for the week’s other action, Rockets/Mavericks had a 1.0 and 1.5 million on ESPN Wednesday — up 43% in ratings and 39% in viewership from Suns/Mavericks last year (0.7, 1.1M) but down 23% and 25%, respectively, from Thunder/Clippers in 2014 (1.3, 1.9M). The early Cavaliers/Pacers game drew a 0.7 and 1.0 million absent LeBron James, up 40% in ratings and viewership from Celtics/Pistons last year (0.5, 740K) but down 46% and 47%, respectively, from Heat/Grizzlies in ’14 (1.3, 2.0M).
On TNT Tuesday, Pistons/Heat had a mere 0.6 (-14%) and 885,000 (-27%). Timberwolves/Warriors, a rare defeat for Golden State, had a 1.1 (+57%) and 1.6 million (+68%). Both were soundly defeated by the championship of the Women’s NCAA Tournament on ESPN (1.9, 3.0M).
