Anticipation heading into the Christmas Day matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors translated to television ratings as the broadcast delivered a combined 6.5 metered market rating on ESPN and ABC.
It matched the fourth-highest rated Christmas game ever on ESPN and ABC, and was the highest-rated Christmas primetime game on the networks. Additionally, the ratings were up 97 percent from last season’s comparable game.
Overall, 2018 became the highest-rated NBA Christmas Day of the ESPN and ABC era (since 2002), based on combined overnight ratings from Nielsen. Though, that does not take into account the 2011 lockout-shortened season that began on Christmas.