NBA Finals Game 2 Notches Over 16 Million Viewers, ABC’s Most-Watched Since 2018

The NBA Finals are on a ratings roll, with Friday’s game becoming ABC’s most-watched Game 2 since 2018.

As the New Yorks Knicks achieved a 105-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, Game 2 scored 16.43 million viewers, according to Nielsen big data plus panel figures.

Viewership for the game, which peaked with 19.42 million viewers at 11:15 p.m. ET, was up 88% from last year’s Game 2. The game also marked the most-watched program of the day on Friday, June 5 across all of television and in all key male and adult demos.

Through two games, the 2026 NBA Finals are averaging 16.68 million viewers on ABC, ranking as the most-watched Finals through Game 2 since 2018 and rising 89% year-over-year.

Viewership for Game 2 was slightly down from Game 1, which brought in 16.93 million viewers on Wednesday, June 3.

The game marked ABC’s biggest Game 1 audience since 2018, as well as the most-watched opening Game 1 ever on ABC, excluding the Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers matchups.

The Knicks won the first two games of the NBA Finals, though the Spurs saw victory in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, which saw the Spurs overtake the Knicks 115-111.

Next up, Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, and the Finals could stretch further into June as needed, with the potential Game 7 slated for Friday, June 19. All games debut at 8:30 p.m.

The Finals follow ratings success for the regular season, which saw the NBA close out its 2026 season with biggest regular season audience the league has seen in 24 years.

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