NBA Finals Game 1 Draws Surprising Viewership As Boston Celtics Defeat Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics’ Game 1 ratings weren’t astonishing.

Kade Kimble | Jun 7, 2024

Jun 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) controls the ball against the Boston Celtics in the first quarter during game one of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

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The Dallas Mavericks suffered a 107-89 defeat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals at the hands of the Boston Celtics. Outside of a promising late third-quarter run, which saw the Mavericks cut the Celtics’ lead to eight points, Dallas didn’t quite show up in Boston. Kyrie Irving, facing his former team, scored just 12 points on 6/19 shooting.

Overall, the Celtics cruised to a victory over the Mavericks. The viewership matched the game, as the ratings didn’t quite show up for the first game of the series. Game 1 averaged a 5.7 rating and 10.99 million viewers on ABC (11.04 million including ESPN Deportes).

Outside of the COVID seasons of 2020 and 2021, the last time there was an opening game with a viewership this low was in 2007. For the six seasons before COVID though, the NBA Finals opened the series with less than 14 million viewers.

One thing that could draw intrigue in the series is the Mavericks playing to a level they’ve proven more than capable of. Making it a close, interesting series, the numbers could very well bounce back and more eyeballs will be on the series.

Of those viewers, the game drew the highest share of adults (18-34) at 50 percent. Still, the game was a five percent decrease from Game 1 last year between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat. With each passing game, and likely a closer series, there will be more interest, but the series wasn’t going to be deciding in Game 1 — which also happened to be a dud from the Mavs.

If the Mavericks can steal a game on the Celtics’ home floor or take both Game 3 and Game 4 to even out the series, one would have to assume the ratings will spike and there will be plenty more intrigue watching a wire-to-wire series.

Stick with MavericksGameday for more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA Finals.

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Published Jun 7, 2024

KADE KIMBLE

Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's FanNation in 2022.