The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night by a score of 111-101 in one of the most highly anticipated regular season games of the year. After the dust settled on this game, the NBA issued a big announcement on the viewership numbers for this game, and they quickly caught fans' attention.
With both teams being perched as the No. 2 seed in their respective conferences for this game, the stakes were high. Boston ended up prevailing thanks to a huge 40-point game from Jayson Tatum, and he made it clear afterwards that his respect for Lakers star LeBron James incentivized him to take his game to another level.
"Won a gold medal this summer with each other. Just respect the guys that came before you and paved the way. Can't say enough good things about what he's done and accomplished and what he means to the game of basketball. As a fan, as a competitor, those moments that you get to play against him, you should cherish, and you should go out there and compete," Tatum said after the game.
The Celtics-Lakers rivalry is one of the greatest not just in the NBA, but in the sports world as a whole, and with both teams being at the top of their game, fans made an effort to tune in for this clash. It led to staggering viewership numbers, as the NBA revealed that ABC's broadcast of the game averaged 4.61 million viewers.
"Lakers-Celtics averaged 4.61 million viewers on NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC, making it the most-watched regular season game in seven years (excluding Christmas Day) and up 92% vs. the comparable window. The game peaked at 5.3 million viewers and was the most-watched program in primetime on Saturday," the NBA Communications department said in a post on X.
Lakers-Celtics averaged 4.61 million viewers on NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC, making it the most-watched regular season game in seven years (excluding Christmas Day) and up 92% vs. the comparable window. The game peaked at 5.3 million viewers and was the most-watched program in… pic.twitter.com/Z5OWNGIOIS
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 11, 2025
The win was Boston's fourth straight, and they followed it up with a victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night. Meanwhile, Los Angeles saw an eight-game win streak get snapped, before they suffered another crushing loss at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets while also playing on Monday.
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This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 1:43 PM.