ESPN is celebrating record ratings after the Los Angeles Lakers’ dramatic showdown with the Boston Celtics.
LeBron James and Luka Doncic teamed up to take on the defending NBA champions on Saturday.
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Doncic’s shock trade to the Lakers from the Dallas Mavericks stunned the basketball world earlier this year.
The Slovenian has helped the Lakers go 8-4 since arriving on the West Coast.
But he and LeBron were powerless to stop the Celtics running out 111-101 winners at TD Garden.
Data from ESPN shows the game averaged 4.61 million viewers and peaked at 5.3 million.
Doncic and LeBron looked to stage a late fightback for the Lakers by reeling in Boston during the fourth quarter.
The ratings were up 92 per cent from the same window in 2024.
On that occasion, the Phoenix Suns hosted the Celtics and drew 2.4 million viewers on ABC.
Saturday’s game was viewed by the highest non-Christmas Day regular season audience in seven years, per the NBA.
It was also the most-watched program in primetime.
“And now you know why the NBA forced the Luka trade,” one basketball fan joked on X in response.
“The world wants this finals,” said another.
“Laughable compared to any NFL game. Literally any of them,” countered a third.
Prior to the contest, the red-hot Lakers were on an eight-game winning streak.
LeBron suffered a groin injury during the loss and is expected to miss the next 1-2 weeks.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne believes the upcoming schedule is the perfect time for Doncic to make his mark in LA.
The Lakers went down to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday and Shelburne believes Doncic needs to be the man to step up in LeBron’s absence.
“This is an opportunity right now for Luka to make it his team,” she told NBA Today.
“[Luka] hasn’t looked as comfortable. I thought he was getting there.
“But in this game [against the Nets], without LeBron, it made me realize, like, oh, this isn’t his team yet.”
