With new schedule for NBA Finals, viewership down for Game 4

NEW YORK (AP) With a new schedule for the NBA Finals, viewership is down for Game 4. Last year's Game 4 was on a Thursday, a big night for television

NEW YORK (AP) With a new schedule for the NBA Finals, viewership is down for Game 4.

Last year's Game 4 was on a Thursday, a big night for television viewership. With more days off built in this season, it was on a Friday, a much lighter night for viewership.

The Warriors' 108-97 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to take a 3-1 series lead averaged more than 16.4 million viewers on ABC. That's down about 17 percent from Game 4 of the 2016 finals, which averaged nearly 19.8 million.

Viewership for this year's series started out very strong but was hurt by blowouts in Games 2 and 3.