Spurs top second‑round TV ratings

Sports Media Watch reported on Wednesday that the San Antonio Spurs were the top television draw of the NBA’s second round, driven by a series against the Minnesota Timberwolves that produced several of the postseason’s largest audiences. The outlet said Spurs-Timberwolves Game 4 on Sunday averaged a combined 7.9 million viewers across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, trailing only Sixers-Celtics Game 7 on NBC after the Kentucky Derby among all games in the current playoffs. Jon Lewis, who wrote the report, said the figures pointed to what he called “the Victor Wembanyama era” changing San Antonio’s ratings profile. The report comes as the Spurs hold a 3-2 lead over Minnesota heading into Game 6 on Friday. ### How big was the Spurs’ Game 4 audience? Sunday’s Spurs-Timberwolves Game 4 averaged 7.9 million viewers and peaked at 10.2 million, according to Sports Media Watch. Lewis wrote that it was the most-watched non-clinching early-round NBA playoff game since Warriors-Lakers Game 3 on ABC in 2023, which averaged 8.37 million. The same report said Minnesota’s Game 4 win nearly doubled the audience for last year’s comparable Cavaliers-Pacers Game 4 on TNT Sports, which averaged 4.04 million on a Nielsen-only basis. (sportsmediawatch.com) Sports Media Watch noted that recent Nielsen methodology changes and NBC’s inclusion of Adobe Analytics streaming data complicate direct year-over-year comparisons. ### Which other Spurs games stood out in the second round? Game 3 of Spurs-Timberwolves on Prime Video averaged 5.25 million viewers, which Sports Media Watch said was the streamer’s largest NBA audience so far. Lewis wrote that the audience topped both last year’s Thunder-Nuggets Game 3 on ESPN, at 4.24 million, and Lakers-Thunder on Prime Video the previous night, at 5.08 million. (sportsmediawatch.com) Game 2 of the series averaged 5.2 million on ESPN last Wednesday, making it the most-watched cable game of the playoffs at that point, Sports Media Watch said. In a ratings tracker entry published earlier in the week, the outlet separately listed Timberwolves-Spurs Game 2 at 4.7 million and said it was up 24% from last year’s equivalent second-round window. (sportsmediawatch.com) ### Why did Sports Media Watch link the ratings to Wembanyama? Victor Wembanyama was named directly in Sports Media Watch’s report, which described San Antonio’s postseason numbers as evidence of “the Wemby effect.” Lewis wrote that while Anthony Edwards and Minnesota also deserved some credit, the Spurs accounted for several audience high-water marks this season before the second round as well. (sportsmediawatch.com) Before the playoffs, Sports Media Watch said Spurs-Thunder on Christmas Day was the NBA’s most-watched game of the regular season, and Knicks-Spurs in the NBA Cup Final was the most-watched game outside broadcast television. In April, the same outlet reported that Wembanyama’s playoff debut in Trail Blazers-Spurs Game 1 averaged a combined 5.73 million viewers across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, up 35% from the comparable game a year earlier. (sportsmediawatch.com) ### What should readers watch for next in the series? Friday, May 15, is the next ratings test. Sports Media Watch’s playoff schedule lists Spurs-Timberwolves Game 6 for 6:30 p.m. Pacific on Prime Video, with a Game 7, if necessary, scheduled for Sunday, May 17. Monday, May 18, is the current date listed for Western Conference finals coverage on NBC and Peacock if the Spurs-Timberwolves series ends in six games. (sportsmediawatch.com) The winner will face the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to the same schedule page. (sportsmediawatch.com)