NBA playoffs: Heat’s win over Celtics was TNT’s most-watched Eastern Conference finals game ever

Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals turned out to be a blowout earlier this week, but viewership numbers from the game set a network record.

Warner Bros. Discovery said Wednesday that the Miami Heat’s 103-84 win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday averaged 11.9 million viewers — which is up about 21% from last season. The game was the most-watched conference finals game on TNT ever, and the series was the most-watched on the network in a decade.

The game peaked at about 14.2 million viewers. The previous record came in 2013, when about 11.6 million people tuned in for Game 7 between the Heat and Indiana Pacers.

The series itself averaged about 7.4 million viewers, which is up 6% from last year.

The NBA noted that the playoffs so far have averaged 4.7 million viewers per game across all networks, making these the most-watched playoffs in 11 years.

It’s easy to understand why Monday's numbers were big. The Heat were at risk of blowing a 3-0 series lead after their remarkable postseason run, something no team has done in NBA history. Before Monday, teams were 150-0 after taking a 3-0 series lead in the postseason. The Celtics were just the fourth team to force a Game 7 from that position, too.

The Heat, despite losing three straight in the series, then rolled over the Celtics by 19 points to reach their second NBA Finals in the past four seasons. They’ll take on the Denver Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals to reach their first NBA Finals. Game 1 of that series is set for Thursday in Denver.

Last season, the Golden State Warriors’ title win over the Celtics in the NBA Finals averaged 12.4 million viewers. That was up 22% from 2021. The Warriors’ Game 6 win to close the series averaged almost 14 million viewers and peaked at 16.8 million.