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NBA Finals Game 2 Overnight Down 9% With Blowout, But Still A Primetime Winner

The Warriors' 33-point win over the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals drew an 11.8 overnight rating for ABC, down 9% from a 12.9 overnight last year, went the same matchup went to OT. Last year's 12.9 was the best figure on record for an NBA Finals Game 2, while the 11.8 this year still ranks No. 3. Despite the blowout last night, Cavs-Warriors Game 2 was up 16% from a 10.2 overnight for Spurs-Heat Game 2 in '14, which was a two-point win for the Heat. The telecast last night peaked at a 13.2 rating from 10:00-10:15pm ET. ABC won primetime among all nets for the 50th straight time that it aired an NBA Finals game. The Cleveland-Akron and S.F.-San Jose-Oakland markets each drew a 32.1 local rating. Through two games, ABC is averaging a 12.4 overnight, down 4% from a 12.9 rating last year. Last year remains the net's best figure through two games, while this year still ranks No. 2 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

MAN BEHIND THE MIC: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes ESPN/ABC's Mike Breen is calling his record 11th NBA Finals, and he will "continue his run with a newly announced contract extension." Breen is an "easy, comfortable presence whose play-by-play is smooth and accurate, who pays attention to small details and engages his analysts" -- Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy -- as if they are "carrying on a game-long discussion." During last night's Game 2, Breen "brought an elevated level of excitement to a brilliant stretch of basketball by Golden State in the fourth quarter that began with a long shot" by G Stephen Curry. It was "such a dandy sequence of announcing that you didn't want ABC to go to a break and interrupt Breen or the offensive flow of the Warriors" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/6).

STICKER SHOCK: ESPN's Darren Rovell cited sources as saying that several members of the Cavaliers "decided to pass on purchasing tickets" to Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals in Oakland after they "were upset about the price" the Warriors were charging and the location of the seats. The Warriors offered the Cavaliers "lower-level tickets, in the corners of the arena, to buy for their friends and family for $1,300 each." Sources said that those tickets last year "were about half that price." A Warriors spokesperson said that prices "went up for fans and players on both teams because of supply and demand." Warriors officials also said that the "location of the seats was the same as the team was offered last year for the Finals." Rovell noted the $1,300 price "still comes at a discount as compared to the face value of those seats for season-ticket holders, who pay $1,600 each" (ESPN.com, 6/3).

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