The New York Knicks’ NBA Finals Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs averaged 24.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Finals Game 5 since 1998, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday.
The Saturday night telecast marked the Knicks’ first championship-clinching victory since 1973 and capped a five-game NBA Finals series shown on ESPN and ABC.
ESPN said the Finals averaged 20.6 million viewers across five games, more than double last year’s seven-game series between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Last year’s Game 5 averaged 9.5 million viewers.
Saturday’s audience peaked at about 33 million viewers in the final minutes of the fourth quarter as the Knicks completed their title-clinching comeback.
The 1998 benchmark came during Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ sixth championship run in eight years.
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Nielsen figures include out-of-home viewing but do not fully capture large public viewing parties, including those held in New York streets.
Front Office Sports writer Michael McCarthy said the Knicks-Spurs series made the NBA look “like a juggernaut again” after years of negative media narratives around league ratings.
