NewsOK member benefits

NBA Finals: Game 2 telecast breaks NBA ratings records in Oklahoma City and Tulsa

ABC gets its second-highest overnight rating for the Finals

By Mel Bracht | Published: June 15, 2012 Comment on this article

Multimedia

Videoview all videos

King for a day: LeBron trumps KD in Game 2

Jun 15LeBron James scored 32 points and made a key defensive...

NBA Finals Game 2: Fans react

Jun 15How are Thunder fans treating Heat fans? What are fans'...

NBA Finals Game 2: Miami 100, OKC 96

Jun 15Miami holds off Oklahoma City in Game 2 of the NBA Finals...

Photoview all 143 photos

Article Gallery: NBA Finals: Game 2 telecast breaks NBA ratings records in Oklahoma City and Tulsa

NewsOK Related Articles

NBA Finals: The 5 plays that defined Game 2
06/15/2012 These swing plays made the difference as the Heat evened the series with the OKC Thunder.
NBA Finals: Bob McAdoo and Kevin Durant are almost carbon copies in playing style
06/15/2012 Heat assistant coach McAdoo won three scoring championships at a young age, just like Thunder superstar Durant
Tale of the tape: Bob McAdoo vs. Kevin Durant
06/15/2012 The early careers of Kevin Durant and current Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo are eerily similar, summoning comparisons of the two: Category McAdoo...
Q&A: Former OSU standout Terrel Harris
06/15/2012 Ex-Cowboy gets an inside look at LeBron James and the Heat
NBA Finals notebook: Defending OKC
06/15/2012 Miami forward Shane Battier ranks as one of the league's top defenders. Asked if there is an art to defending without fouling, Battier said: “Yes. It's...
NBA Finals: Shoe is on the other foot this year
06/15/2012 Last year, the Heat split the first two NBA Finals games on its home floor. Now, Miami heads home with a chance to close out the series at American Airlines...
NBA Finals: Time for the Thunder to go small
06/15/2012 Berry Tramel: Miami's shooter-heavy lineup causes matchup problems for the Thunder. Going small will help counter that.
NBA Finals: Shane Battier's shooting touch baffles Thunder
06/15/2012 Miami's top defender has shined on the offensive end as well so far in the series.
Q&A: Thunder guard Reggie Jackson stays ready
06/15/2012 Reggie Jackson has had a peculiar rookie season. Summer league was canceled and training camp was cut short because of the lockout, and he was injured...
NBA Finals: LeBron James gets best of Kevin Durant late as Heat even series with Thunder
06/15/2012 Down two, 12 seconds left, the ball in Kevin Durant's hands on the baseline. Nobody north of Palm Beach thought Durant would miss. But this time, LeBron...
NBA Finals: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra decides to go with small lineup in Game 2
06/15/2012 LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Mario Chalmers, Chris Bosh and Shane Battier started together for the first time of this season's playoffs.
NBA Finals: No one said this would be easy for the Oklahoma City Thunder
06/15/2012 HEAT 100, THUNDER 96 — The three players Pat Riley recruited and/or re-recruited in the summer of 2011 reminded Oklahoma City and the world what kind of...
NBA Finals: Chris Bosh makes his presence felt
06/15/2012 To open practice Wednesday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called his starters onto the floor and was greeted with a pleasant surprise. Out stepped Chris Bosh....
NBA Finals: Kevin Durant plays through foul trouble
06/15/2012 Less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, KD picked up his fifth foul. That forced OKC to change its defense.
Miami Heat notebook: Chris Bosh starts and delivers a double-double
06/15/2012 Bosh recorded first double-double since April 16 with 16 points and 15 rebounds. The forward had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.
NBA Finals remote patrol: ABC's Jeff Van Gundy, Michael Wilbon say Kevin Durant fouled on key play
06/15/2012 Television camera catches LeBron James fouling Kevin Durant with seven seconds remaining.
NBA Finals: James Harden says Thunder will 'pick it up' at the beginning of Game 3
06/15/2012 HEAT 100, THUNDER 96 — Thunder guard James Harden provided a boost off the bench in the first quarter when OKC was down.
NBA Finals Game 2 report card: Thunder bench gets an 'A'; Aggression gets a 'B'
06/15/2012 James Harden returned to high productivity, with 21 points. He basically kept the Thunder in this game. And while Nick Collison didn't have numbers to speak...
NBA Finals: By the numbers from Game 2
06/14/2012 The Thunder did not lead once during Game 2 at Chesapeake Arena.
NBA Finals Q&A: Shane Battier says teammates 'did a good job of finding me'
06/14/2012 Heat forward Shane Battier scored 17 points in Miami's victory over the Thunder on Thursday. He converted 5-of-7 3-point shots and was instrumental to...
What they're saying about the NBA Finals: Bonnie Bernstein says Russell Westbrook reminds her of Brett Favre
06/14/2012 Here's a look at what TV analysts, celebrities and other media types were saying during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Thunder Bandwagon: Kendrick Perkins doesn't care what Miami Heat players think of the Oklahoma City crowd
06/14/2012 NBA FINALS — Bill Hader, David Boren, Adrian Peterson and Craig Robinson among famous faces at Chesapeake Arena for Thursday's Game 2.
NBA Finals: Heat holds off Thunder to tie series at a game apiece
06/14/2012 LeBron James scored 32 points and hit the clinching free throws with 7 seconds left, Dwyane Wade added 24 points and the Miami Heat claimed home-court...
Game 2 Thunder notebook: Russell Westbrook's thumb still hurting
06/14/2012 Russell Westbrook's thumb is still hurting. He suffered the injury in the Western Conference Finals vs. San Antonio.
NBA Finals: Blue uniting fans
06/14/2012 People are wearing Thunder blue from their painted toes to their painted hair. They fly it from their cars, their homes and their businesses.

Nationally, the game got an 11.8 overnight rating, the best overnight rating for a Game 2 since 2004 and second-highest ever on ABC, according to Nielsen. The 11.8 rating is up 12 percent compared to last year's Finals Game 2 (Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks), which earned a 10.5. The only other Game 2 telecast with a higher overnight on ABC was the 12.3 for the 2004 Finals (Detroit Pistons vs. L.A. Lakers).

The two-game overnight rating is 11.8, up 11 percent from last year. Game 2 peaked with a 15.1 rating from 10:30 to 10:45 p.m.

The “NBA Countdown” pregame show averaged a 3.8 overnight rating, up 9 percent from a 3.5 for last year's Game 2 pregame show. The program's two-game overnight average is 4.2, up 20 percent.