Every game of the 2026 NBA Finals was a nail-biter.
And the television ratings reflected as such.
The Knicks-Spurs series was the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998 — the last gasp of the Michael Jordan Bulls dynasty — by averaging 20.6 million viewers across the five games, ESPN said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Finals, the highest-rated ABC has had, saw a 100 percent increase in viewership over the 2025 seven-game series between the Thunder and Pacers. This year’s Finals was also the top program on TV each day.
On top of all the macro-level data, Game 5 averaged 24.5 million viewers and peaked at 33 million, becoming the most-watched Game 5 since the 1998 Finals.
Charles Wenzelberg / NY Post
The peak viewership of Game 5 reached nearly 10 million more people than the Knicks’ epic 29-point comeback in Game 4, which had a viewership high of 23.2 million.
The Knicks’ title, their first in 53 years, has had New York and the rest of the tri-state area buzzing.
The team’s heroes have been making plenty of TV hits, with Finals MVP Jalen Brunson joining the “Today” show on Tuesday, one day after he and his New York teammates were feted on the “Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon and “Good Morning America” on Monday.
The celebration hasn’t ended, however, as Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to make an appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Tuesday before New York City hosts a parade up the Canyon of Heroes on Thursday morning. The parade is expected to use an eye-popping 1.25 tons of confetti.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
