NBA Playoffs See Slight Rise, Finals Viewership Dips

The NBA playoffs averaged 5.47 million viewers this season, the highest viewership in five years.
The NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat averaged 11.64 million viewers, down slightly from last year.
Game 5 of the Finals drew 13.08 million viewers, making it the highest-rated broadcast of the NBA playoffs.
Denver led the country with a 21.55 household rating for the Finals, despite being a smaller market.
The short series length and smaller markets of the participating teams likely contributed to lower Finals ratings overall compared to other years.