Led by an All-Star backcourt of recent MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the Houston Rockets were certainly among the NBA’s most intriguing franchises in the 2019-20 season.
It clearly showed up in the local and national television ratings, too.
Digital content company Sportico recently analyzed the league’s 20 most-watched games of the season, heading into the NBA Finals. Of those 20 contests, six (or 30%) featured the Houston Rockets.
Only the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers, who are now three wins from the 2020 NBA title, had more than the Rockets.
Here are the teams who appeared on the list three or more times:
Lakers: 11
Rockets: 6
Celtics: 5
Heat: 4
Nuggets 4:
Clippers: 3
Heading into the NBA Finals, 6 of the Top 20 most-watched games this season have involved the Rockets. Only the Lakers had more. https://t.co/vW7vDd89wt
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) September 30, 2020
In fairness, facing the Lakers in the playoffs certainly accounted for some of the lofty ratings by the Rockets. Of Houston’s six games in the Top 20 list, four came from that second-round series against the Lakers.
However, Houston’s top-rated matchup — and No. 2 overall on the list — actually came in a regular-season game versus the Warriors on Christmas Day. That was the only appearance on the list by Golden State, which suggests that they weren’t the primary draw for national viewers.
In the postseason, even though the Denver Nuggets faced the Lakers in a later round, Game 2 of the Rockets-Lakers series remained the No. 1 game of the entire Western Conference playoffs by TV rating.
Game 7 of the first-round series between the Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder was also a big ratings hit. Not only was it by far the highest-rated game of that round, but it came in No. 11 overall among all 2020 playoff games (before the NBA Finals). Even compared to the six combined series and 35 playoff games played after the Rockets-Thunder Game 7, it would still place in the top-third from a ratings perspective.
Those data points are all from nationally televised broadcasts, of course, on networks such as ESPN, ABC, and TNT. But the same trend appears to have held up locally. While local television ratings for most NBA teams were down this season, the Rockets saw an increase on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. That data was released in late February, just prior to the 2019-20 season’s extended hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For better or for worse, it certainly seems to suggest that Harden and Westbrook’s Rockets are among the NBA’s most compelling teams.
For the NBA as a whole, 2019-20 TV ratings are down from a year ago. However, they're higher for #Rockets broadcasts.
Hot take: Maybe James Harden isn't the problem? 🤔 #OneMissionhttps://t.co/DmReFHKBzf
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) February 19, 2020
