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Thunder-Rockets, Lakers-Warriors on NBC hits records not seen since 2010
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- Thunder-Rockets, Lakers-Warriors on NBC hits records not seen since 2010
The post Thunder-Rockets, Lakers-Warriors on NBC hits records not seen since 2010 appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The NBA officially returned to NBC on Tuesday night to kick off the 2025-26 NBA season. With the NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Golden State Warriors , opening night was a highly anticipated event for the NBA, which made its return to NBC for the first time since 2002.
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The night did not disappoint and the numbers back it up.
The NBA's return to NBC saw the largest "NBA Tip-Off" doubleheader audience since 2010 — excluding 2011 opening day games on Christmas Day following the lockout — with an average of 5.6 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, the NBA announced on Thursday.
The 2010 NBA Tip-Off doubleheader (5.7 million viewers) featured LeBron James ' debut with the Miami Heat in the opener.
Data collected from this week's opening night on NBC is based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
The peak of Tuesday night's coverage of the NBA on NBC came from 10:45 – 11PM EST as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder earned a 125-124 victory over the Houston Rockets in double-overtime. Thunder-Rockets was the first double-overtime game on opening night of the NBA since 2005 and only the sixth opening night game in NBA history that went to double-overtime.
The entire Thunder-Rockets game averaged 5.9 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.
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Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for the Thunder with 35 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocked shots. Alperen Sengun poured in 39 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and five three-pointers in the loss.
The second game of the opening night double-header featured Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors visiting Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers .
The Warriors-Lakers nightcap averaged 5.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. Because of the double-overtime thriller in Oklahoma City , the second game was measured from 11:02PM EST, when the game was joined in-progress on NBC, to 12:42AM EST.
Golden State held off Los Angeles to win, 119-109, despite a game-high 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists from Luka Doncic. Jimmy Butler recorded 31 points, five rebounds, four assists, and was a perfect 16-of-16 from the free throw line, while Stephen Curry added 23 points and four assists.
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NBC's Nielsen-only viewership powered the NBC broadcast network to win the night in primetime among adults ages 18 0 49 against all networks.
Additionally, the NBA on NBC saw significant success across social media on opening night.
The Thunder-Rockets and Lakers-Warriors games were the most-viewed tip-off games EVER with more than 600 million views (and counting) across all NBA and third-party social accounts.
The NBA on NBC occupied nine of the top 10 and 19 of the top 20 trending topics at different points of the night, with multiple No. 1 trending topic like, ' Chet Holmgren ,' 'Alperen Sengun,' and 'Lakers' each trending No. 1 globally throughout the night, spanning different points of the doubleheader.
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Tuesday's "Roundball Rock" show open delivered 5.6 million impressions on NBC Sports' social media platforms, with '#NBAonNBC,' 'Roundball Rock,' and 'NBA' trending for seven consecutive hours.
From the nostalgic theme song reacted and Mike Tirico's opening monologue to the scorebug and high quality in-game cameras, it was an incredibly successful night for the NBA on NBC.
NBA on Prime will debut on Friday night, with the Boston Celtics taking on the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves taking on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Monday night, October 27th, is set to be the debut of 'Peacock NBA Monday,' a doubleheader that will see the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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