Thunder-Cavs battle draws positive NBA ratings shift
Yesterday at 03:07 PM
The Cleveland Cavs' and Oklahoma City Thunder's showdown between the NBA's supremacy didn't disappoint regarding ratings. NBA fans on social media responded to the matchup, which ended Oklahoma City's 15-game win streak while extending Cleveland's to 11 in a 129-122 slugfest.
Ratings spiked to 20% per NBA Communications' X, formerly Twitter.
"The much-anticipated OKC-CLE game averaged 1.87 million viewers on ESPN Wednesday night, up +20% vs. the comparable window last year. The game peaked with 2.5 million viewers. The back-and-forth contest, which featured 30 lead changes, propelled the Cleveland Cavaliers to the No. 1 trending topic worldwide on X during the game," NBA reported.
Wednesday's game was a highly entertaining affair between the Cavs and Thunder. 12 Cavs and Thunder players scored in double figures, including Jarrett Allen (25 points, 12 rebounds) and Evan Mobley (21 points, 10 rebounds), leading Cleveland's seven to Oklahoma City's five.
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a game-high 31 points. Jalen Williams added 25 points and nine assists, Isaiah Hartenstein flirted with a triple-double (18 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists), and Cason Wallace chipped in 15 points.
After the NBA's decline in viewership at the start of the regular season, it has skyrocketed over the past month. According to Nielsen, the NBA averaged 5,335,000 million viewers on Christmas Day, an 87% spike from 2024. It was also ESPN's most-watched Christmas Day since 2019 (with an average of 5,337,000 viewers).
Brian Windhorst's bold NBA Finals claim for 2024-25 Cavs
Will 2024-25 be the campaign we see the Cleveland Cavs return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2018? After underestimating last year's team, ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst admits the Cavs have turned him into a believer in the wake of their dominating regular season.
Windhorst says the Cavs are talented enough to win a title, per ESPN Cleveland's 5 Good Minutes with Windy.
"This team can win four playoff rounds," Windhorst said.
The Cavs' multifaceted roster gives them the best chances to compete for a title than we've seen in nearly a decade. The depth of their team has elevated the Cavs to the upper echelon of the NBA, per Windhorst on ESPN's First Take.
"This was a group that I admit I thought that they couldn't work together after last season, I said they're underachieving. They have to maybe consider breaking them up," Windhorst said. "[But] the way the Cavs play, everybody who steps on the floor can hit a three, and the way they move the ball is reminiscent of the way the Warriors played when they first started their run."
Great stuff from Windy on the Cavs on First Take today. Admits where he got it wrong on the Allen-Mobley pairing (like most of us did) and likens the way they're playing to the early part of the Warriors' run. pic.twitter.com/mODzoGjEKj
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) January 9, 2025
The Cavs extended their winning streak to 12 in a 132-126 win against the Raptors.
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