Celtics vs. Lakers matchup among NBA’s most-watched regular season games in over a half-decade
The television ratings from Saturday night’s rivalry matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers were announced by the NBA Communications on Tuesday.
The game certainly gained the attention of fans nationally. With 4.61 million average viewers and 5.3 million peak viewers, Saturday was the most viewed NBA regular season game (excluding Christmas Day games) in seven years.
The Lakers and Celtics are both near the top of the NBA and their respective conferences. The Lakers rank sixth in NBA and third in Western Conference, and the Celtics are third in the NBA and second in the Eastern Conference.
Plus there’s the teams’ historic rivalry that is regarded as one of the best in sports, and each team having some of the game’s biggest stars. Some have even wondered if Saturday’s game was a precursor to an NBA Finals series, as both teams are geared up for long playoff runs.
Playoff implications aside, the Celtics — a team that has had its ups-and-downs this year — showed up on the big stage, besting the Lakers 111-101. One can hope that their Saturday night performance foreshadows how they will play come playoffs as they look to defend the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.
