ECF pacing at seven-year high as Knicks extend series

The NBA Eastern Conference Finals hit another seven-year high as the Knicks ensured at least a sixth game.

Thursday’s Pacers-Knicks NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 averaged 6.72 million viewers across TNT and truTV, marking the most-watched Game 5 of the ECF since Cavaliers-Celtics in 2018 (7.51M). Regardless of conference, it was the most-watched Game 5 at this point of the postseason since Mavericks-Warriors three years ago (6.79M).

Compared to last year’s lone conference final Game 5, Mavericks-Timberwolves in the West, viewership increased 7% from 6.26 million.

For the NBA season, only Game 3 on Sunday (7.09M), Lakers-Timberwolves Game 4 in the first round (7.35M) and Lakers-Warriors on Christmas Day (7.91M) averaged a larger audience. The Pacers-Knicks series accounts for four of the season’s top seven audiences.

Entering Saturday’s Game 6, Pacers-Knicks is averaging 6.74 million viewers — up 7% from last year’s four-game Celtics-Pacers series (6.31M) and the most-watched ECF through five games since Cavaliers-Celtics. Viewership is even compared to last year’s TNT Sports conference final, the five-game Mavericks-Timberwolves.

All five games of the Pacers-Knicks series have been the most-watched of the ECF in at least seven years, with Game 3 the most-watched in ten. For that trend to continue, Game 6 will need to surpass the 8.71 million who tuned into the Celtics’ buzzer-beating, series-tying win over the Heat two years ago.