NBA Playoffs Ratings: Round One Scores Third Best Result Ever
The first game of the first round of the NBA Playoffs yesterday were a win for the Cleveland Cavaliers and a win for ABC. The afternoon Eastern Conference match-up saw Lebron James and team beat the Boston Celtics 113 -100 on Sunday in their Ohio hometown.
With a 4.5 rating among adults 18-49, the game also saw ABC score. That ratings result is up 13% in the key demo from the Round 1 Game 1 that saw Lebron and the Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats 99-88 on April 20 last year. That game in the Florida metropolis snagged a 4.0 ratings result and started what became a Heat sweep of the series. Miami went all the way to the finals but were defeated four games to one by the San Antonio Spurs.
Perhaps even more noteworthy to ABC and the NBA this year is that yesterday’s game was the third best overnight result a playoff Round 1 Game 1 has ever delivered. The top Round 1 Game 1 result is the 5.1 rating that the LA Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves drew on April 20, 2003. With Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on the court together, the Lakers won that game 117 – 98 and went on to win the series 4 -2. Ahead of Sunday’s game by just over an arm’s length, the second best Round 1 Game 1 ratings result was the 4.6 that the Kobeless Lakers match-up against the San Antonio Spurs got on April 21, 2013. The Spurs swept that series but ended up coming up short against the Heat in the finals with Miami winning four games to San Antonio’s three.
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