The Boston Celtics’ 111-101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night drew the largest non-Christmas audience for an NBA regular-season game in seven years, according to the league.
The game, which peaked at 5.3 million viewers, averaged 4.61 million viewers on ABC, topping the previous high of 4.64 million for a Celtics-Cleveland Cavaliers game in February 2018. It was also the most-watched prime-time program Saturday night.
Only the Christmas Day tripleheader of Lakers-Golden State Warriors (7.91 million), Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers (5.24 million) and San Antonio Spurs-New York Knicks (5 million) has drawn more viewers this season.
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The Lakers have featured in four of the top-10-rated games during the 2024-25 season.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum dominated the Saturday night matchup with 40 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, while Jaylen Brown had 31 points and six assists. Lakers forward Luka Dončić had 34 points, with five 3-pointers and eight rebounds.
LeBron James netted 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in nearly 35 minutes before leaving with a groin strain midway through the fourth quarter. He’s expected to miss 1-2 weeks of action.
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