Celtics

Game 7 of Celtics-Heat scored big in the ratings for TNT

Turner's broadcast of the Heat’s 103-84 Game 7 win in the Eastern Conference finals averaged 11.9 million viewers, the network’s third-most watched NBA game ever.

By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe

May 31, 2023

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Turns out millions of people saw the Celtics miss what felt like a million shots Monday night.

TNT’s broadcast of the Heat’s 103-84 win over the cold-shooting Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals averaged 11.9 million viewers, the network’s third-most watched NBA game ever and its most-watched ECF game.

The previous most-watched ECF game on TNT was Game 7 of Heat-Pacers in 2013, which averaged 11.6 million viewers.

Per Sports Media Watch, the broadcast delivered the seventh-largest audience on any network for a non-Finals NBA game since the current television deal began in 2002.

The most-watched game on that list is Game 7 of the 2016 Western Conference finals between the Warriors and Thunder, which averaged 16.0 million viewers.

Monday’s broadcast, which was the most-watched program on cable television that night, peaked with an average of 14.2 million viewers from 10-10:15 p.m.

Overall, the network’s coverage of the series averaged 7.4 million viewers, up 6 percent over last year’s matchup between the same teams.

Saturday’s Game 6, won by the Celtics on Derrick White’s putback buzzer-beater, averaged 8.7 million viewers. It was the most-watched ECF Game 6 ever on the network.