National Basketball Association

Heat-Celtics Game 6 draws big TV rating

Published Jun. 8, 2012 11:50 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Miami Heat's win to stay alive against the Boston Celtics has matched the highest television rating for an NBA playoff game on cable since records started being kept in 2003.

Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night on ESPN produced a 6.8 rating, the same as Sunday's Game 4. The network said Friday that ratings for the series are up 40 percent from last year's Western Conference finals on ESPN.

In Miami, the game had a 22.0 rating, the highest on cable for an NBA playoff game in the market since records started being kept in 2003.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program.