It's the dominating storylines of Kevin Durant versus LeBron James. It's the validation (or lack of it) of The Decision. It's the polarizing Miami Heat against the ultimate team approach in Oklahoma City with the Thunder. Whatever your favorite reason, many people are tuning in for the 2012 NBA Finals and David Stern and company have to be quite pleased with the initial results of game one on Tuesday night.
Game 1 of NBA Finals did an 11.77 nationally, a 44.2 in OKC. #Thunder #Heat
— Steve Layman (@SteveLayman) June 13, 2012
That rating is a major boom for ABC. How big?
How big will the NBA Finals be for ABC? The 11.8 overnight is the best Game 1 metered market rating since ABC acquired the package in '03.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) June 13, 2012
With the sparks from game one, it's easy to see Kevin Durant and LeBron James providing much more of the same as the series progresses.
For more on the 2012 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat, check out Welcome To Loud City and Peninsula Is Mightier. For more news and notes from around the NBA head over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.