"No surprise here terrible Finals" - NBA fans react as Game 4 viewership stats go viral

Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets was a competitive match until the last minutes of the fourth quarter. Denver’s flurry pushed their lead to 17 points, their largest in the game, in the last three minutes of the contest.

Despite the superb action right from tip-off, some fans missed the fiery back-and-forth action. The Nuggets’ advantage seemed to have turned off basketball fanatics, with 10.41 million people reportedly watching Denver take a 3-1 series lead.

Basketball fans reacted to the low number of views:

"No surprise here terrible finals"

Per Sports Media Watch, Game 4 of the 2020 Finals had 7.70 million views. Game 3 was the worst during that span with only 6.08 million while Game 2 had 6.78 million.

Last year’s NBA Finals featuring the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics had Game 3 having the lowest views, with 11.52 million basketball fans watching the game. The highest number of views since 2015 was Game 7 of the 2016 Finals between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Around 31.02 million fans saw LeBron James complete a 3-1 comeback to pull off an upset for the ages against the Warriors. No other game has topped 30 million since 1998. During that year, Game 6 between the Utah Jazz and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls garnered a staggering 35.89 million views, the most-watched game in NBA history.

It remains to be seen how many fans are watching Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Nuggets and the Heat as it unfolds.

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The San Antonio Spurs vs the New Jersey Nets 2003 NBA Finals remains the least watched championship round

In 2003, a methodical San Antonio Spurs side behind Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker eliminated the three-peat LA Lakers. San Antonio disappointed millions of fans who were expecting Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to continue their dominance.

The Spurs met the New Jersey Nets that were led by Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Kerry Kittles and Dikembe Mutombo in the Finals. They hit 11.57 million viewers in Game 6, which was the highest in the series. About 8.06 million watched Game 2, the lowest viewership in the series.

In 2002, when the Nets faced the Lakers in the Finals, they peaked at 16.56 million in Game 4. Despite the lopsided series in favor of the Hollywood team, fans still watched the action. The lowest number of views in the championship round was 14.05 million, which happened in Game 2.

Without the star power of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, who went to the previous three Finals, 2003’s Spurs-Nets series turned out to be a dud.

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