By A non-traditional Western Conference Finals featuring a new generation of stars got off to a healthy start in the ratings on TNT.
Wednesday’s Mavericks-Timberwolves NBA Western Conference Final Game 1 averaged 7.02 million viewers across TNT and truTV, trailing only Lakers-Nuggets on ESPN and ESPN2 last year (7.36M) as the most-watched conference final opener in the past five years.
Though down 5% from last year’s aforementioned Lakers-Nuggets Game 1, viewership increased 8% from Mavericks-Warriors on TNT in 2022 (6.52M). Compared to TNT’s conference final last year — Heat-Celtics in the East — viewership increased 18% from 5.95 million.
The Mavericks’ win, which peaked with 8.69 million viewers from 10:45-11 PM ET, ranks as the most-watched conference final opener on TNT since Warriors-Rockets in 2018 (8.90M) and third-most watched in the past decade. (Keep in mind out-of-home viewing was not tracked in Nielsen final nationals prior to 2020.)
Game 1 delivered the second-largest audience of the NBA Playoffs, trailing only the Timberwolves’ Game 7 win over the Nuggets on TNT and truTV last Sunday (8.41M). Minnesota has played in three of the seven most-watched games this postseason, trailing only the Nuggets (four) as the most of any team.
In the other conference final opener, Pacers-Celtics averaged 6.43 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2 on Tuesday night — the most-watched Game 1 of the East Final since 2018.
