The Warriors vs. Cavaliers thriller on Sunday was the most-streamed NBA Christmas game ever, and tied the highest overnight rating at 5.9 percent in the past 12 years in the early window (2:30 p.m. ET), according to an ESPN press release.
Warriors vs. Cavaliers rematch broke an NBA Christmas streaming record
The game is also the most-watched game in the midday time slot in 12 years.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
Cleveland beat Golden State 109-108 in a rematch of last year’s 2016 NBA Finals, where the Warriors now infamously botched a 3-1 lead to lose to LeBron James. The game on Christmas was the two teams’ first meeting since Game 7, and it peaked with 11.8 million viewers late in the fourth quarter. The game averaged 10.1 million viewers on the day.
It was the fifth-highest viewed regular season game on ABC in the NBA’s history. The game broke the streaming record, with 44.3 million minutes streamed online.
Last year, the NBA put the Cavaliers vs. Warriors matchup in the 5 p.m. ET slot, rather than the 2:30 one. Naturally, this year’s game was up 44 percent over last season’s matchup (Thunder vs. Bulls).
The game drew 18.4 percent of shares in Cleveland and 15.1 in San Francisco. The early game, the Celtics vs. the Knicks, was also the highest rated early game for the NBA since 2012.
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