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Game 1 produces historic NBA Finals ratings on ABC

Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, center left, and Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, center right, jump for the opening tip off during the first half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, June 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, center left, and Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, center right, jump for the opening tip off during the first half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, June 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
By Juliakate E Culpepper
June 2, 2017

For months, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers were predicted to put on one of the best NBA Finals of all time.

On Thursday night, the ratings proved it.

In the third highest Game 1 broadcast on ABC after the first two Game 1 meetings between the Warriors and Cavaliers, Thursday’s game peaked from 10:15 p.m.-10:30 p.m. EST with 13.9 metered market rating.

The game was also ESPN’s most-streamed NBA Finals Game 1 in history drawing in an average of half a million viewers, up 43 percent from last season.

The top five markets the game was streamed in were in order Cleveland, San Francisco and Oakland, Columbus (OH), Memphis and Miami.

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Juliakate E Culpepper
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