Normally, a second-round playoff series in the NBA isn’t extremely anticipated or exciting, as it won’t often feature two marquee heavyweight teams with two marquee heavyweight superstars.
But this year, the NBA Playoffs gave basketball junkies two such matchups: the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals and the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors out west.
The Lakers-Warriors matchup featured just about everything: two recent champions, a dynasty team going up against one of the hottest teams of late and two of the 10 greatest players ever in LeBron James and Stephen Curry. It almost carried the weight of an NBA Finals matchup for plenty of fans.
Therefore, it wasn’t too surprising that it was the most-watched second-round series in 27 years.
The Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors series averaged 7.8M viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT, making it the most watched Conference Semifinals series in 27 years. pic.twitter.com/pJxc2dSp60
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 15, 2023
Perhaps it wasn’t as competitive as anticipated, since there were only two close games, and the series ended with a Game 6 blowout in the Lakers’ favor. But there is no doubt that fans across the nation enjoyed it, and the conference finals should be at least as intriguing and exciting.
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