When the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers meet, people watch. When the two teams meet as viable championship contenders, more people watch. That was the case for Thursday night’s matchup.
Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reported that Golden State’s 123-116 win in Los Angeles generated one of the NBA’s biggest audiences of the season.
Thursday’s Warriors-Lakers NBA regular season game averaged 2.5 million viewers across TNT and truTV, up 70% from Nuggets-Clippers last year (1.5M) and the second-most watched NBA game on cable this season, excluding Opening Night. Including broadcast network ABC, which owns 16 of the top 20 audiences this season, it ranks 18th.
Golden State’s win easily outdrew the rivals’ previous matchup on cable this season, which took place on the night of the trade deadline and averaged 1.84 million (also on TNT). Again excluding Opening Night, it was the most-watched TNT meeting of LeBron James and Stephen Curry since 2019.
This isn’t exactly a surprise. James and Curry are two of the biggest draws in NBA history. For much of the season, matchups involving either (or both) of the teams were carried largely by the star power of the two superstars, as neither team looked to be a particularly viable championship contender. But the trade deadline acquisitions of Luka Dončić in Los Angeles and Jimmy Butler in Golden State have sparked a resurgence with both teams.
More potential good news for the league’s broadcast partners comes from the NBA standings. Following Thursday’s game, the Lakers and Warriors are seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Western Conference.
The conference standings are close and entering Friday, both Los Angeles and Golden State have six games remaining on their schedules. But if those rankings hold, the Lakers and Warriors would meet in the first round of the playoffs — which would certainly be welcome news for the NBA’s broadcast partners.