Stephen Curry’s recent hot streak is moving the NBA ratings needle.
Warriors-Celtics averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.49 million viewers on ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime over the weekend, the highest rated and most-watched NBA telecast — outside of the All-Star Game — since Nets-Warriors on February 13 (1.5, 2.56M).
Boston’s narrow win, which saw Curry score 47 points in defeat, delivered the ninth-largest audience of the season. Golden State has played in five of the top ten games — more than any other team, including the Lakers (four).
Golden State’s subsequent game, a Monday night win over the Sixers in which Curry scored 49, averaged 1.47 million viewers on ESPN — the NBA’s largest weeknight audience since Nets-Lakers on TNT February 18 (1.94M).
It also ranks as the most-watched NBA game on cable (again, excluding the All-Star Game) since Warriors-Lakers on ESPN February 28 (1.65M).
The Warriors games highlighted a run of seven games on ESPN/ABC in just three days. In a rare Sunday afternoon doubleheader, ESPN drew a 0.8 and 1.41 million for Nets-Heat — the NBA’s second-largest audience on cable since February 28 — and a 0.6 and 1.02 million for Pelicans-Knicks.
Jazz-Lakers drew a 0.6 and 1.09 million on ESPN Saturday afternoon and 1.13 million Monday night.
On Friday, ESPN drew a 0.7 and 1.17 million for Knicks-Mavericks and a 0.6 and 885,000 for Clippers-Sixers — the latter being the only game of the seven with fewer than one million viewers.
Top NBA audiences this season
