June 03--The Golden State Warriors had a big night Thursday, and so did ABC.
The Warriors' 104-89 victory over Cleveland drew a 13.1 overnight rating, the highest for Game 1 of the NBA Finals since ABC started broadcasting the series in 2003, according to Nielsen.
It was the highest-rated opening game of the NBA Finals since 2001, when the Lakers played the Philadelphia 76ers on NBC.
Last year's Game 1, also between the Warriors and Cavaliers, delivered a 12.9 rating, which was an ABC record at the time. The previous year's matchup between the Miami Heat and San Antonio spurs in the same game got only a 10.4 rating.
The ratings for this year's game peaked at 14.8 between 7:45 and 8 p.m. PT.
An average of 347,000 people a minute streamed the game on WatchESPN, a record for an NBA game and more than twice the number who watched last year.
Ratings points reflect the percentage of households tuned in to a program.
