Saturday night's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics was the NBA's most-viewed regular-season contest - excluding Christmas Day games - in the past seven seasons, the league announced Tuesday.
An average of 4.61 million people tuned in to ABC to watch the Celtics' 111-101 win, with the game peaking at 5.3 million viewers.
The game was up 92% versus the comparable window and was the most-watched prime-time program Saturday.
The NBA inked an 11-year, $76-billion media rights deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video last summer. Disney, which owns ABC and ESPN, will be the broadcaster for the NBA Finals and NBA draft for the duration of the contract, which begins with the 2025-26 campaign.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James sustained a groin injury midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. He is expected to miss one-to-two weeks. L.A. dropped its first contest without the 40-year-old, a 111-108 defeat to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Celtics and Lakers will not face one another again this season unless they make the finals.
