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The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors played a nail-biting, thrilling game in the play-in tournament as LeBron James and company walked away with a hard-fought win to snag the 7-seed in the Western Conference. As it turns out, the game between Stephen Curry and LeBron James reached new heights that ESPN hadn't seen since 2019 in the Western Conference Finals, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.
Lakers/Warriors play-in game last night drew an average audience of 5.6 million.
The most-watched NBA game on its air, @espn says, since the 2019 Western Conference finals.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 20, 2021
Of course, the Warriors were also involved in the 2019 WCF against the Portland Trail Blazers. Nonetheless, 5.6 million is a smashing success, and somewhere NBA commissioner Adam Silver is smiling as the play-in tournament has been a success- at least that game was between the Lakers and Dubs. The Eastern Conference game between the Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets was a blowout. However, the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies game was a bit closer.
Make no mistake, the NBA and the fans wanted a LeBron vs Steph, Lakers vs Warriors play-in game and that's exactly what they got on Wednesday night.
The Lakers trailed the Warriors and it looked as if Golden State was going to snag the 7-seed. Then came the defending champions doing what they do best- executing on the defensive end.
Then came LeBron James and his improbable shot as the shot clock expired with Curry all over him to essentially seal the deal for the Lakers in a wild and rocking Staples Center that had the most fans inside since fans were allowed back in April.
So, hats off to Adam Silver and the NBA for implementing the play-in tournament, although LeBron and Luka Doncic, among others, were strongly against it. The fans watched at a record clip on Wednesday night, and this might be reasons number one through 10 for the NBA to continue to include this format in the next few years.
