The big story for the NFL this season was about how the ratings continued to fall, the reason behind the ratings falling, and how the NFL could try to get those ratings up. The NBA, on the other hand, does not have that kind of problem because they are seeing some big gains in people watching basketball.

The Sports Business Journal did some research about the NBA ratings and found some interesting results:

“Nationally, NBA games on ABC, ESPN, NBA TV and TNT are showing double-digit viewership increases. The combined 15 percent jump puts the league’s TV viewership at its best mark heading into All-Star weekend since the 2012-13 season. Locally, regional sports networks are seeing a 7 percent increase in ratings so far this season.”

The team that saw the biggest increase this year was the Boston Celtics who saw their local ratings go up a whopping 82 percent. This was the most hyped season for the Celtics since they had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen and it has shown with people tuning in.

Kyrie Irving, Al Horford
Winslow Townson/Associated Press

It has helped throughout the season they have played good basketball and that has kept the fans tuned in, and kept the ratings high.

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Rounding out the top five for teams who saw the biggest increase were the Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and the San Antonio Spurs.

There were teams that didn't see an increase though. The Atlanta Hawks have lost 50 percent of their viewing from last year, which is not entirely surprising considering how bad the team has been playing this season. The Hawks are currently wallowing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with an 18-41 record.

Dennis Schroder
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Rounding out the bottom five for biggest drop-offs were the Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Phoenix Suns.

It's not a coincidence that the teams that saw the sharpest plunges are teams who lost star players, or teams that are sitting near the bottom of the league in terms of their win-loss records.