Warriors-Cavaliers Round 3 most-watched NBA Finals since 1998
The third installment of the Golden State Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals trilogy was the most-watched Finals series since Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls downed the Utah Jazz in 1998.
According to Nielsen (via ESPN on ABC), the five-game series — which Golden State wrapped up on Monday night with a 129-120 win over the defending champs — averaged a total live audience (television and streaming) of 20.8 million viewers, up from 20.6 million viewers from the seven-game series between these teams a year ago.
Monday night's game, which had a total live audience of 25 million average viewers, was the most-watched Game 5 since 1998 and saw a 20% increase from last year's Game 5. It peaked with 29.5 million viewers at 11:30 p.m. ET, as the Warriors were fending off Cleveland's late-game run.