Game 1 of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder did not produce the viewership totals that ESPN was likely hoping for.
Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reported the numbers on Wednesday. It’s a significant drop from not just last year, but several recent seasons.
“Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals flopped in the ratings,” [Lewis wrote](https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2025/05/thunder-wolves-game-1-viewership-nba-wcf/). “Tuesday’s Timberwolves-Thunder NBA Western Conference Finals Game 1 averaged 5.36 million viewers across ESPN and an ESPN2 ‘InsightCast’ (366K), marking the least-watched conference final opener since Clippers-Suns on ABC in 2021, which aired a month out of schedule on Father’s Day (4.72M).
“Oklahoma City’s blowout win declined 24% from last year’s Mavericks-Timberwolves Game 1 on TNT and truTV (7.02M),” the report also noted. “Compared to last year’s conference final on the ESPN networks, viewership also fell 17% from Pacers-Celtics Game 1 in the Eastern Conference (6.44M).”
What could cause such a drop?
Compared to the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals (which, like the 2025 Western Conference Finals, was covered by ESPN), neither the Timberwolves nor Thunder has the following that the Boston Celtics have. As far as the Western Conference Finals are concerned, the Minnesota Timberwolves were in 2024’s as well. So the primary differences are the networks covering the series and the Thunder in place of the Dallas Mavericks. Losing established stars like Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving is significant. Oklahoma City is also a smaller market than Dallas.
But this isn’t just a drop compared to last year.
“It was also the least-watched conference final game of any kind since Hawks-Bucks Game 5 in that same 2021 postseason, which aired in July (4.92M),” Lewis explained. “Excluding the COVID-delayed playoffs of 2020 and 2021, it was the least-watched conference final opener since Grizzlies-Spurs on ABC in 2013 (4.85M) and the least-watched conference final game since Bucks-Raptors Game 4 on TNT in 2019 (5.3M).”
Going back to 2013, we’ll find a lot of Conference Finals games that featured established needle movers like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant — none of whom remain in the postseason in 2025. It’s not as though the Western Conference Finals lacks star power. While it’s a title he [doesn’t care to have](https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/anthony-edwards-doesnt-want-face.html), Anthony Edwards has been talked about as the next “face of the league.” The Thunder, of course, were a 68-win juggernaut in the regular season and have the NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Both players, though, are still in the relatively early parts of their careers.
The Eastern Conference Finals should generate bigger numbers. One, they feature the New York Knicks for the first time in 25 years. Two, it’s the NBA on TNT’s farewell.
Ratings improving in the Western Conference likely depend on the series being more competitive than Oklahoma City’s 114-88 blowout win in Game 1.