Pacers win as they look to gain revenge for last season’s playoff loss.
The Indiana Pacers’ clash with Eastern Conference rivals the Miami Heat on Tuesday night was the most-watched game ever recorded on NBA TV, according to ESPN.
With Frank Vogel’s men coming out with a 90-84 win over the reigning champions, it was a fascinating encounter given that these two teams are likely to return to the Eastern Conference finals this year.
The network has revealed that the telecast averaged 920,000 viewers, topping at more than 1m during a 15-minute period in the second-half of the game.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since Miami’s seven-game series win in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, and the viewing figures now surpass the 868,000 that watched the Los Angeles Lakers against the Portland Trail Blazers in October 2012.
The previous highest record for this season came on Sunday night for Kobe Bryant’s long-awaited return for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Toronto Raptors.
Although it ended in disappointment for the Mamba who appears to be improving with each passing game, the viewing figures will undoubtedly have buoyed the league’s front office.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether or not the record is broken again next year when the Pacers and Heat do battle in the conference finals again.
Both teams appear to be moving away from their remaining rivals in the East, and are favourites to set up another defining post-season clash following on from their epic series from last season.
Paul George is developing into a MVP standard player for the contenders, while Roy Hibbert continued to bother the Heat inside the paint with his dominance at both ends of the court with the Pacers maintaining their impressive defensive record so far this season.
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