May 28, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) dribbles as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) defends during the fourth quarter of game four of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Thunder-Timberwolves WCF failing to live up to standard Mavericks set

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated May 24, 2025 2:45 PM ET

The NBA is in the middle of the conference finals on both sides of the bracket, with the Indiana Pacers holding a 2-0 lead over the New York Knicks, and the Oklahoma City Thunder holding a 2-0 advantage over the Minnesota Timberwolves. OKC was the best team all season, finishing with the league's best record at 68-14, so it's not a surprise that they're dominating this series so far, even after being pushed to seven games by the Denver Nuggets.

There has been a lot of angered discussion around the Western Conference Finals, mainly because no one likes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's foul baiting. And the TV ratings seems to agree with that line of thought.

Lackluster TV Ratings for Thunder-Timberwolves

Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between OKC and Minnesota drew an average viewership of 5.36 million viewers, the least watched Game 1 of a conference finals since 2021 against the LA Clippers and Phoenix Suns. For comparison, Game 1 of the Mavericks and Timberwolves drew an average viewership of 7.02 million viewers.

Game 2 was even worse for the Thunder and Wolves, drawing an average viewership of 5.16 million viewers, per Sports Media Watch, the lowest viewership for a Western Conference Finals game since Game 3 between the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies in 2013. Game 2 between the Mavs and Wolves drew an average of 6.27 million viewers.

A lot of this has to do with market size. Dallas is one of the five biggest sports markets in the United States while Oklahoma City is 47th. Dallas also featured bigger stars, including Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have won MVP, but he doesn't draw the same conversations as those two. And while Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are good players, they're not forcing the average person to tune into a game.

There has been a lot of talk revolving around the TV ratings for the NBA this season, and it doesn't help that the two teams in the Western Conference Finals are teams that don't have a lot of history between them, or a lot of history among casual NBA fans.

Dallas could've made a run again this season if they stood pat. Instead, they traded away Luka Doncic, angered the fanbase, and missed the playoffs because of a ridiculous amount of injuries, which felt like karma more than anything. The 2024-25 season will go down as a what-if for the Mavs fanbase, as Dallas had the horses to match up with the Thunder again had they made it to the postseason.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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