Golden State Warriors

West Game 7 earns TNT NBA's No. 2 audience ever on cable TV

Published May. 29, 2018 5:45 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) Game 7 of the Western Conference finals drew a peak audience of 18 million viewers, making it the second-most watched NBA game in cable TV history.

Golden State's victory over Houston on Monday night to earn a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals averaged 14.8 million viewers for the TNT telecast, with the peak audience from 11 to 11:15 p.m. EDT. The network says Tuesday that only its coverage of the 2016 West finals Game 7 between the Warriors and Oklahoma City drew a larger audience for an NBA game on cable.

Overall, TNT's 42 live playoff games averaged 4.9 million viewers, the network's most-watched playoffs coverage since 2011.

ESPN averaged 13.3 million viewers for Cleveland's Game 7 victory over Boston on Sunday, its second-best number ever behind only Miami's clinching victory over Boston in 2012.