National Basketball Association

NBA Finals lead ABC to ratings win

Published Jun. 17, 2014 1:37 p.m. ET

foxsports

NEW YORK (AP) The San Antonio Spurs are happy it took only five games to beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. The same couldn't be said for ABC.

The Nielsen Company said Tuesday that the series averaged 15.5 million viewers on television, topped by the 18 million who watched the Spurs' clinching game on Sunday.

Overall, the series was down from the 17.7 million that it averaged in 2013 with the two teams. But last year's series went to the seven-game limit, with a memorable comeback from Miami in the sixth game. Nielsen said this year's five-game series averaged slightly higher than last year's series did through five games.