NBA hits 5 billion social views during Finals. OKC's Game 7 win draws top finals audience in 6 years

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BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — The NBA generated more than 5 billion views across social media platforms during this season's NBA Finals, up 215% from last season's title series.

That figure, released Tuesday, follows a 10% leap in overall viewership for ESPN and ABC during the 34 games they carried in this year's playoffs as opposed to their numbers from a year ago.

Also, Oklahoma City's 103-91 victory over Indiana in Game 7 was the most-watched NBA Finals game in six years.

Sunday night's game averaged 16.53 million on ABC and ESPN+ according to preliminary ratings data from Nielsen. The audience peaked at 19.28 million during the second half (9:45-10 p.m. EDT).

It is the first time since Toronto wrapped up its title in Game 6 against Golden State in 2019 (18.34 million) that the finals have had an audience over 16 million. The last Game 7, when Cleveland beat Golden State in 2016, averaged 31.02 million.

This seven-game series averaged 10.27 million, down from the 11.31 million average for Boston's victory over Dallas in five games last year.

The seven games were the most-watched television broadcasts since the first week of May. Game 7 was the most-watched finals game internationally ever on NBA League Pass, the league said, up 42% vs. last year’s title-clinching Game 5.

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