The 2024 NBA Finals are off to an inauspicious start, both in terms of the on-court product and its reception stateside.
According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, the favored Boston Celtics’ lopsided 107-89 blowout home victory over the Dallas Mavericks in a Thursday night Game 1 clash notched just a 5.7 rating and 11.04 million viewers on ABC/ESPN Deportes. Only the 2020 Miami Heat-Los Angeles Lakers (7.69 million viewers, 4.1 rating) and ’21 Milwaukee Bucks-Phoenix Suns (8.7 million viewers, 4.5 rating) were lower-rated among NBA Finals Game 1s, since the 2007 San Antonio Spurs-Cleveland Cavaliers series.
Compared to last year’s Game 1 between the Heat and Denver Nuggets, this matchup represents a 5 percent dip. That game notched 11.58 million viewers and a 6.0 rating on its ABC and ESPN2 broadcasts.
Though Boston, pining for a solo-record 18th championship, is one of the league’s most storied franchises and Dallas boasts one of the NBA’s most exciting young players in All-NBA superstar guard Luka Doncic, it appears the general public at large isn’t wholly engaged in the action. Beyond the teams at play, it’s quite possible that a perpetually fracturing TV audience, in combination with delayed-broadcast viewers, are more to blame than the identities of the two combatants.
All told — and Game 1 notwithstanding — this still looks to be an exciting series. Though Boston’s defensive dominance seemed to spur a barrage of solid scoring en route to a dominant opening game win, the Mavericks have two of the best late-game closers in the NBA, between backcourt All-Stars Doncic and ex-Celtic Kyrie Irving, and should be able to bounce back in a big way soon enough. Boston, however, is deeply stacked when it comes to its decorated top six players. All-NBA power forward Jayson Tatum and All-Star small forward Jaylen Brown are flanked by an All-Defensive backcourt tandem of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, alongside one-time All-Star center Kristaps Porzings. Sixth-man Al Horford is himself a five-time All-Star, although at 38 years old he’s definitively a role player now.
Doncic led all scorers with 30 points on 12-of-26 shooting from the field (4-of-12 from long range) and just 2-of-5 shooting from the foul line. He also notched 10 rebounds, two steals, and a shocking single assist (against four turnovers). All six of Boston’s best players scored in double digits, with Brown’s 22 points and Porzingis’ 20 points leading the charge. Tatum logged a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double.
The Celtics’ 47.6 percent field goal shooting and 38.1 percent three-point shooting represented significant advantages over the Mavericks’ 41.7 percent shooting from the floor and 25.9 percent shooting from long range. Boston also enjoyed edges in rebounds (47-43), assists (23-9), points off turnovers (18-13) and bench points (32-20). Boston led by as many as 29 points.
Game 2 tips off on Sunday. Will the fans be more receptive if the contest stays close? Time will tell.
Uncommon Knowledge
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