Wow, Here's How Huge The Thunder-Warriors Game 7 Ratings Were For TNT

While the ratings for NBA games weren’t too hot when the current season started, the league started gaining eyeballs a-plenty as the months passed and teams like the San Antonio Spurs, the Golden State Warriors and more hit some amazing streaks. It all culminated (for now) in Monday night’s Western Conference Final Game 7 between the Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder, a pulse-pounding contest that came down to the final minutes, and that game apparently ramped up a lot of people’s tension, as it drew the biggest audience in TNT’s 28-year history.

Though the final score of 96-86 doesn’t convey the close calls and excitement that came before, an average of 15.9 million viewers are well aware that the game was a nailbiter for an ample amount of time, cementing the Warriors as the tenth team in NBA history to get out of a 3-1 deficit. And as hard as it might be to believe, this stunning victory was watched by more people at one time than any other TNT program since the network first sprouted up in 1988. Which means it has beaten not only all of the network’s most notable original series over the years, but also all of the NBA games that have aired on the channel since 1989. That’s quite impressive.

Perhaps more impressive? The Warriors/Thunder game also managed to become the most-watched NBA game that has ever aired on a cable channel, according to TV By the Numbers. This particular game now sits atop the hundreds or thousands of other match-ups, looking down from coach Steve Kerr’s shoulders. Now, it definitely didn’t rank among the most-watched NBA games of all time. That probably-won’t-be-beaten record is held by the 1998 NBA Finals series between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz, which brought in an average of 25.2 million people across the six games, heavily boosted by it being Michael Jordan’s last season as a Bulls star.

Check out all of the highlights from the game below.

The Warriors’ victory will set up a repeat NBA Finals from last year, in which Curry and his fellow Warrior all-stars will take on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last year’s series brought in the biggest audience since the five-game 2001 routing of the Philadelphia 76ers by the reigning champ Los Angeles Lakers. I can’t imagine the rematch will come anywhere close to the Sixpeat, but stranger things have happened.

The NBA Finals will begin on ABC starting Thursday, June 2, at 8 p.m. ET.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.