Warriors-Rockets last night is the best figure for any NBA game this season to dateNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
TNT last night with Warriors-Rockets Western Conference Finals Game 7 drew the second-best overnight rating ever for an NBA game on cable TV. The 10.3 overnight sits only behind Warriors-Thunder WCF Game 7 in '16 (11.1 overnight), which aired on the same Monday night window on TNT. Warriors-Rockets last night also is the best figure for any NBA game this season to date and helped TNT's "Inside the NBA" postgame show to its third-best figure ever. Game 7 peaked at a 12.2 overnight last night from 11:00-11:15pm ET and was the most-watched sports program during Memorial Day weekend. S.F.-San Jose-Oakland led all markets with a 27.9 local rating. Houston drew a 22.0 rating, which is that market's best figure yet for a Rockets game on TNT. Meanwhile, ESPN on Sunday night drew a 9.1 overnight for Cavaliers-Celtics Eastern Conference Finals Game 7,which ties with Heat-Celtics ECF Game 7 in '12 as the cable net's best NBA overnight on record. Sunday night's game peaked at a 12.0 rating from 10:45-11:00pm. Cleveland-Akron drew a 27.6 local rating, while Boston drew a 21.9 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
TIME AFTER TIME: The fourth straight Cavs-Warriors NBA Finals matchup is drawing its share of Twitter reaction. The Wall Street Journal's Jason Gay joked, "This will be the first Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals since 2017, and only the fourth since 2015." ESPN Stats & Info: "It will be the first time that's happened in a Championship round in NBA, MLB, NHL or NFL history." SB Nation's Matthew Cannata: "I like LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I respect Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. However, it is not good for the game of basketball that they have been in the finals every year since 2015." NBC Sports: "Are you sick of Warriors vs. Cavaliers in the #NBA Finals?" FanSided Raptors blogger Sandro Rubin: "Cavaliers vs Warriors are going to surpass the Fast and Furious Franchise at this point. Will this matchup ever end?" Author Robert O'Neill: "So golden state is playing LeBron in the NBA Finals. ... Hockey, anyone?" Author Ken Jennings: "Insanity is holding the NBA playoffs over and over and expecting a different result."
