The latest chapter of the Celtics/Lakers rivalry earned one of the NBA’s top regular season audiences in recent years.
The Celtics’ win over the Lakers earned a 4.3 final rating and 7.003 million viewers on ABC Sunday afternoon, up 23% in ratings and 24% in viewership from the same matchup last year (LAL/BOS: 3.5, 5.655M), and up 54% and 56%, respectively, from 2009 (SAS/LAL: 2.8, 4.501M).
Excluding Christmas Day games, Celtics/Lakers ranks as the highest rated, most-viewed regular season NBA game on ABC since the network reacquired rights to the league in the 2002-03 season.
When Christmas games are factored in, Sunday’s matchup ranks as the ninth-most viewed on ABC since 2002-03, and the eleventh-most viewed regardless of network.
Impressively, five of the top eleven games since ’02 have taken place this season alone — Celtics/Lakers, Heat/Cavaliers on December 2 (7.052M, TNT), Heat/Celtics on Opening Night (7.348M, TNT), Celtics/Magic on Christmas Day (8.657M, ABC), and Heat/Lakers on Christmas Day (13.113M, ABC).
Sunday’s matchup was the #2 sporting event of the week, behind only the NFL Pro Bowl on FOX (7.7, 13.046M).
15 Most-Viewed Regular Season NBA Games Dating Back to 2002-03 Season
|
#
| Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Sat., 12/25/04 | MIA?104, LAL 102 | ABC |
7.3
|
13,182
|
|
2
|
Sat., 12/25/10 | MIA 96, LAL 80 | ABC |
6.4
|
13,113
|
|
3
|
Thu., 12/25/08 | BOS?83, LAL?92 | ABC |
5.3
|
9,960
|
|
4
|
Sat., 12/25/10 | BOS 78, ORL 86 | ABC |
4.6
|
8,657
|
|
5
|
Fri., 12/25/09 | CLE?102, LAL?87 | ABC |
4.4
|
8,316
|
|
6
|
Sun., 12/25/05 | LAL?92, MIA?97 | ABC |
4.8
|
8,063
|
|
7
|
Wed., 12/25/02 | SAC?105, LAL?99 | ABC |
4.5
|
7,484
|
|
8
|
Tue., 10/26/10 | MIA?80, BOS?88 | TNT |
4.6
|
7,348
|
|
9
|
Thu., 12/25/03 | HOU?99, LAL?87 | ABC |
4.1
|
7,187
|
|
10
|
Tue., 12/2/10 | MIA?118, CLE?90 | TNT |
4.2
|
7,052
|
|
11
|
Sun., 1/30/11 | BOS 109, LAL 96 | ABC |
4.3
|
7,003
|
|
12
|
Sun., 2/8/09 | LAL?101, CLE?91 | ABC |
3.8
|
6,077
|
|
13
|
Sun., 12/25/05 | SAS?70, DET 85 | ABC |
3.9
|
6,011
|
|
14
|
Tue., 12/25/07 | PHX 115, LAL 122 | ABC |
3.5
|
5,985
|
|
15
|
Fri., 12/25/09 | BOS 86, ORL 77 | ABC |
3.3
|
5,855
|
(nielsen.com)
