Clippers-Spurs Game 7 caps weak 1st round of TV ratings for NBA playoffs

If you enjoyed Game 7 between the Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, one of the best NBA games in recent memory, you're in the minority.

Despite an excellent series to that point, a pivotal Game 7 showdown, a large L.A. market and the potential end of a Spurs dynasty, ratings for the TNT broadcast were somewhat disappointing.

Facing competition from the Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard, the game drew 4.8 million viewers, down 18 percent from Game 7 between the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder one year ago. But the 2014 Game 7 was a part of a three-elimination triple-heade, and Clippers-Spurs brought in seven percent more viewers than the Chicago Bulls-Brooklyn Nets Game 7 from the first round in 2013.

Regardless of the circumstances around the game, which drew the fourth-smallest audience for any NBA Game 7 in the past five seasons, it caps a poor first round of ratings for the playoffs.

Of the league's 41 first-round broadcasts, 34 saw a decrease in viewership relative to 2014, and 28 of those declined by double-digit percentages.

Round 2 hasn't started off much better, with Game 2 between the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards drawing under three million viewers on Tuesday, down 34 percent from the same slot a year ago.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team that appears capable of avoiding the league-wide downward trend, with five of their six playoff games so far topping the viewership from the same slots in 2014.

It's unclear what the issue is for the league, exactly. Some major markets are struggling over the past few years with the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks out of the playoffs, and television numbers may not accurately reflect interest without considering digital viewership. The league's new, $2.9-billion media rights deal suggests that nobody is really worried, but at the very least it's a trend worth keeping an eye on.