ABC on Thursday night drew a 12.4 overnight rating for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which saw the Warriors beat the Cavaliers by 22 points. That figure is down from the last two NBA Finals openers featuring the same matchup. The 12.4 is down 5% from a 13.1 last year, which saw the Warriors win by 15 points. Last year was the net's best figure for an opening game since acquiring an NBA media package prior to the '02-03 season. Thursday night's Game 1 ranks No. 3 overall for ABC's Game 1 coverage, also behind the 12.9 overnight two years ago, which saw Warriors-Cavs go to overtime. Cavs-Warriors on Thursday was well above the 10.4 overnight for the Spurs-Heat opener in '14. The broadcast is likely to give ABC a primetime win for the 56th straight time that an NBA Finals game has aired. Game 1 peaked at a 13.9 rating from 10:15-10:30pm, as the Warriors had opened up a big lead in the third quarter. Cleveland-Akron led all markets with a 33.4 local rating, but that is down from a 36.0 last year for Game 1. The S.F.-Oakland-San Jose market drew a 30.9 local rating, down from a 32.8 in '16. Rounding out the top five from Game 1 on Thursday night were Columbus (17.3), Memphis (16.3) and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (15.8). WatchESPN also set several NBA Finals Game 1 streaming records, including average minutes streamed (496,000), unique viewers (1.55 million) and total minutes streamed (79.86 million) (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor). Fox Sports VP/Research, League Operations & Strategy Michael Mulvihill in a tweet noted, "Check the ratings at tipoff and through first half before judging Game 1 rating too harshly. Initial tune-in is telling stat in blowouts" (TWITTER.com, 6/2).
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING? In Cleveland, Marc Bona writes one of the "good things" about Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson covering the game for ABC is that they "rarely get too technical." On the downside, Van Gundy will "energetically go off on tangential points that he will carry through the rest of the game, with Jackson chiming in as a sidekick." To change things up, sometimes Jackson will "initiate the non-story," and Van Gundy will "do the chiming." The halftime analysts seem a "bit toned down, thankfully, from the Shaquille O'Neal-Charles Barkely variety hour on TNT" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/2). In N.Y., Justin Terranova profiled Breen and noted Breen is calling a record 12th Finals, a number that "only will grow" in the coming years. Van Gundy said of his partner, "What Mike does, he makes look easy, but it is very, very difficult. And he has unbelievable NBA knowledge. He is a student of the game and understands the history. ... Mike is like the point guard in the game. He allows us to be ourselves and not go overboard" (NYPOST.com, 6/1).
BEST WISHES: SPORTING NEWS' Michael McCarthy noted Stephen A. Smith "missed Game 1" and will be "absent for Friday's taping of ESPN's 'First Take' as he mourns the death of his mother, Janet Smith." Smith has been "off the air since Tuesday." His return date has "yet to be determined" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 6/1).
