National Basketball Association

Spurs title-clinching win a hit with viewers

Published Jun. 16, 2014 3:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

NEW YORK (AP) The San Antonio Spurs' redemption title was a big hit with television viewers.

Nearly 18 million viewers tuned in to watch the Spurs clinch in Game 5 on Sunday night. That's a 10 percent increase from Game 5 between the same teams last year. Nielsen says viewership peaked at 22.4 million in the last half hour of the Spurs' 104-87 win.

The 10.3 national rating on ABC was up from 9.5 last year.

The five-game series averaged 15.5 million viewers and a 9.3 rating. That's up from 15.1 million viewers and a 9.1 rating through five games of the 2013 classic series.

Nielsen Social says it was the most-tweeted NBA game of the year, with more than 6.4 million tweets. The Spurs won their fifth NBA championship, preventing the Heat from winning three straight titles.