This past Friday, Game 6 of the Los Angeles Lakers versus Golden State Warriors series favored the underdogs. Knocking off the defending champions, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and crew eliminated the Warriors and have advanced to the Western Conference Finals to face the Denver Nuggets.
Hard to fathom how far the Lakers have come after starting the 2022-23 season eight games under .500! And in an unexpected turn of events have now placed them just four wins away from a Finals appearance. Led by first-year coach, Darvin Ham, the Lakers did a complete overhaul of their roster halfway through the season. And it looks to prove that the changes were necessary for progress – becoming just the fourth team in the League’s history to be below .500 and still reach the conference finals.
“I felt like If we ever had an opportunity to upgrade our roster, and put more balance around myself and Anthony Davis, I felt like we could make a run.” – LeBron James
James made such a proclamation and put on a legendary performance to help seal the Lakers’ spot in the semifinals. James finished the game with 30 points, on 10-for-14 shooting, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Accompanying James on the floor for Game 6, Austin Reaves made clutch contributions to the team’s offense, finishing with 23 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. He joined four other Lakers in reaching double figures.
The Warriors, despite falling behind most of the game, made a strong run in the fourth, cutting the Lakers’ 14-point lead to 11. But it just wasn’t enough. To close the game out, Coach Ham would eventually empty his bench in the final minutes. And the Lakers would go on to celebrate their 42nd conference finals appearance berth in franchise history.
The ESPN broadcasts of the highly anticipated matchup delivered an average of 8, 640,000 viewers! The broadcast peaked at 11 pm ET, with 9,295,000 viewers, making this the most-watched program of the day for May 12 across all of television, and in all key demographics.
The Game 6 viewership was also up 38% from last year’s comparable game, which was a matchup between the Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies. ESPN’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs continues this Tuesday, May 16, with exclusive coverage of the NBA Western Conference Finals.
