DALLAS — The second game of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics Sunday evening was the most-watched finals game in the last five years, according to the NBA.
According to Fast Nationals from Nielsen, Game 2 averaged 12,063,000 viewers and peaked with 14,106,000 viewers at 9 p.m. CST. It's the highest total in an NBA Finals game since 2019, and a 10% growth from Game 1, the NBA said.
Viewers tuning saw the Mavericks drop a close game, 105-98, and fall into a 0-2 hole in the seven-game series. Mavericks guard Luka Doncic's 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in Game 2 were not enough to topple the Celtics' balanced scoring offense. Four Celtics scored at least 18 points in the victory, while the Mavericks struggled to establish consistency outside of Doncic.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving continued his longtime struggles against his former team. He's made only 35% of his shots in the NBA Finals, averaging 14 points and four assists -- far below his season averages. Irving has also now lost 12 straight games to the Celtics between the regular season and the playoffs.
Before the third game of the NBA Finals, the All-Star guard took responsibility for his struggles in the series.
“First thing of that is just accepting that I haven’t played well or up to my standards, as well as I would have liked,” Irving said. “Being back in Boston, there’s such a level of desire that I have inside of me to play well. Wanted to be there for my teammates. As a competitor, it’s frustrating. But I don’t want to let that seep in or spill over to any other decisions I have to make there as a player.”
The third game of the NBA Finals is Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. at the American Airlines Arena. You can watch Game 3 on WFAA -- or your local ABC station for anyone outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
WFAA will have coverage throughout the NBA Finals at WFAA.com/Mavericks.
Check out the full NBA Finals schedule here.
