The Boston Celtics’ victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night was a major hit with fans, drawing the largest non-Christmas audience for an NBA regular-season game in seven years, as reported by the league. The game attracted 4.61 million viewers on ABC, reaching a peak of 5.3 million viewers. This surpassed the previous record set by a Celtics-Cleveland Cavaliers match in February 2018. It was also the most-watched prime-time program of the night. The only games this season that have drawn more viewers were the Christmas Day tripleheader featuring Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors (7.91 million), Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers (5.24 million), and San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks (5 million). The Lakers have been part of four of the top-10-rated games this season. In the game, Celtics’ Jayson Tatum shined with 40 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, while Jaylen Brown contributed 31 points and six assists. Lakers’ Luka Dončić scored 34 points with five 3-pointers and eight rebounds. LeBron James had 22 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists before exiting the game in the fourth quarter due to a groin strain. He is expected to be out of action for 1-2 weeks.
