Warriors Game 7 Victory Drew Largest Audience Ever For NBA Game On Cable TV
OAKLAND (CBS/AP) -- The Warriors' Game 7 win to complete a comeback from down 3-1 in the Western Conference finals drew the largest TV audience for an NBA game on cable.
The defending champs' 96-88 come-from-behind victory over the Thunder on Monday night on TNT averaged 15.9 million viewers -- more than several NBA Finals games in recent years.
It's the most-watched telecast of any kind in TNT's 28-year history, the network said Tuesday.
It was the largest audience for any pre-NBA Finals game since Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Trail Blazers.
The Oklahoma City-Golden State series was already a major attraction after the Thunder upset the San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals. Then Oklahoma City left the Warriors on the brink of elimination with two straight blowout victories against a team that won a record 73 games during the regular season.
The seven-game series averaged 9.9 million viewers, the most for a Western Conference finals on cable. That's up 47 percent from the last Western Conference finals on TNT in 2014, a six-game series between the Thunder and Spurs.
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