With the NBA’s top rated team facing elimination, overnight ratings were unsurprisingly high for Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
Game 5 of the Thunder/Warriors NBA Western Conference Finals earned a 7.6 overnight rating on TNT Thursday night, up 43% from Thunder/Spurs in 2014 (5.3). TNT did not air a conference final Game 5 last year. Compared to Game 5 of last year’s Rockets/Warriors WCF on ESPN, overnights increased 12% from a 6.8.
Golden State’s win, which peaked at a 9.8 from 11:15-11:30 PM ET, tied the highest overnight for a Game 5 in the conference finals since Celtics/Nets on NBC in 2002 (8.6) — matching Heat/Bulls in 2011 and Celtics/Heat in 2012. It was the top Game 5 of the West finals since the same 2002 postseason, when Lakers/Kings had a whopping 11.6 on NBC.
It also tied the sixth-highest overnight ever for the NBA on cable television, marking the only non-Heat game in the top eleven.
Oklahoma City was the night’s top rated market with a 25.0 rating, up 3% from Thunder/Spurs in 2014 (24.4). The Bay Area ranked second with a 23.7, up 8% from last year’s Rockets/Warriors Game 5. Cleveland (15.2), Tulsa (13.2) and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (11.4) rounded out the top five.
