Thunder's Game 7 win over Pacers most-watched NBA Finals game in 6 years
If a playoff series produces classic after classic, fans will flock toward it. No better case study in that than the 2025 NBA Finals. After some initial worries that two small markets wouldn't be able to carry the league's main event, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers produced one of the best championship series in recent history.
The NBA Finals went the distance. It saw a Game 7 for the first time since 2016. While not as dramatic, the Thunder's 103-91 win over the Pacers attracted eyes from all over the globe to see one of the greatest seasons ever capped off.
All the crying about small markets doesn't matter to the average basketball fan. Who cares where these teams are located? All that matters is if they can produce high-quality basketball on the court for 48 minutes. Safe to say the Thunder and Pacers did that. And the data backs it up.
ESPN announced that the Thunder's Game 7 win over the Pacers was their most-watched NBA Finals game in six years. It averaged 16.4 million viewers with a peak of 19.3 million viewers.
A Game 7 by itself is the most attractive watch in the NBA. So much volatility and nerves are built into these do-or-die matchups. Now, inject steroids in the stakes with an NBA Finals Game 7 that has player legacies and franchise histories on the line, you can only imagine how excruciating the wait was for OKC and Indiana.
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