Game 1 of the 2022 Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and Mavericks averaged 6.5 million total viewers on Wednesday, delivering TNT's most-watched Conference Finals game since 2018.
Despite it being a 112-87 blowout win for Golden State, the game was the most watched NBA Playoff game on cable this year – up 38% compared with Game 1 of last year’s Western Conference Finals (Clippers-Suns, 4.7 million viewers) and up 21% over Game 1 of last year's Eastern Conference Finals (Hawks-Bucks, 5.4 million viewers).
The telecast peaked with an average of 7.5 million viewers from 9:45 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET, and it was the No. 1 program of the night across all of cable. Overall, TNT’s 2022 NBA Playoffs coverage has led the network to win the night on cable in primetime 18 times.