Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals averaged 8.76 million viewers on ABC, which was down 29 percent from Game 2 in 2024. The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers by a comfortable 123-107 margin.
The game was the least watched Game 2 of the Finals, outside of the bubble in 2020, since 2007 when the San Antonio Spurs’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers drew 8.55 million despite competing against the series finale of “The Sopranos.”
There was some hope of a bounce in ratings after the Pacers had an exciting comeback win over the Thunder in Game 2.
The Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals now ranks as only the second of the Nielsen people meter era (1988-present) in which neither Game 1 nor Game 2 hit the nine million mark. The Finals between the Cavaliers-Spurs in 2007 and Nets-Spurs in 2003 each hit nine million for Game 1 or 2.
However, this year’s series still outranks everything else on television.