Sunday night's Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals continued the postseason trend of massive viewership as LeBron James led his Cleveland Cavaliers past the Boston Celtics to seal his eighth straight trip to the NBA Finals.
ESPN's broadcast matched its NBA ratings record by registering a 9.1 metered market rating, equalling Game 7 of 2012's Eastern Conference finals between James' Miami Heat and the Celtics of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.
Furthermore, the telecast peaked at a 12.0 rating during the final stages of the fourth quarter, making it the highest-rated 15 minutes of an ESPN NBA broadcast on record.
Sunday evening's contest is now the highest-rated game of the postseason, although it may not hold that record for long, given that Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors' West final series versus the Rockets goes tonight in Houston on TNT.