Lakers vs. Knicks and 7 Most-Hyped Regular-Season Matchups in Recent History
Today's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden has suddenly gotten a lot of hype.
How does it fit with the most-hyped games in the NBA in the last three years though? This year's TV ratings are way up. According to thefutoncritic,
"NBA TV continues to set record ratings just over a month into the 2011-12 regular season. Through the first 34 games of the regular season, NBA TV is averaging 391,000 total viewers and 306,000 total households, up 74% and 78% respectively, compared to the same time last year. In addition, NBA TV has also shown the largest universe growth of any cable network since the start of the year with an increase of over 3.3 million households.
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Additionally, NBA on TNT is showing double-digit gains over last year's ratings. ABC is also showing increases.
The NBA is stocked with stars. People are watching.
The NBA hype machine is having some major success. People are watching. Whatever you say about hype, it's clearly working. Here are the seven most-hyped games in the last three years.
Lakers at Knicks, Feb. 10, 2012
1 of 7Today's game was one five days ago that no one would have cared about. Without Amar'e Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks had about as much star power as a black hole.
Now they have the one, the only, the mega star, the man, the myth, the legend, the defense-carver from Harvard, all-he-does-is-Lin: Jeremy Lin.
If the media ever needed to prove that it has the ability to hype something beyond reality, Jeremy Lin proves it. Suddenly two names that don't deserve to be in the same box score, Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin, are being mentioned as a rivalry.
With the two largest media markets in the US going at each other tonight, this game could be one of the highest-rated ESP has had.
Heat at Mavericks, Christmas Day, 2011
2 of 7The Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks tipped off after the best showing in a decade to a 4.9 rating, a seven percent increase over last year's ratings. It was a hugely anticipated rematch to see how the Heat would respond to being forced to watch the Mavericks hoist the championship banner on Christmas Day.
It turned out that neither side of the anticipated showdown lived up to the billing. The Heat stayed in the locker room for the banner-raising ceremony, and for all the resistance they gave, the Mavericks may as well have been in the locker room for the game.
It was a blowout with the Heat winning 105-94 in a game which was only decided by 11 points because the Mavs bench did a lot of scoring in garbage time.
Celtics at Lakers, Jan. 30, 2011
3 of 7It was tied with the Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat game in terms of ratings, although a smidgen behind in terms of total viewership. It was a rematch of the previous year's finals, with the two teams having squared off for two of the last three championships.
This one fell into the category of not living up to the hype. The Lakers were awful and got blown out 109-96. Rajon Rondo had 16 assists. Paul Pierce scored 32 and Ray Allen 31. Kobe Bryant was huge, scoring 41, but the rest of the team might as well have been no-shows. It wasn't even close.
Bulls at Heat, Jan. 29, 2012
4 of 7This was the third-highest-viewed, non-Christmas, regular-season game since 2002. It lived up to its anticipation for about 47:40. Then in the last 20 seconds both teams virtually tried to screw up.
Both Derrick Rose and LeBron James missed two free throws. Then the Bulls missed an offensive rebound. Then the refs blew a whistle prematurely. Then the Bulls missed a jump ball. Then Mario Chalmers split a pair of free throws. Then Rose missed the game-winning shot.
Out of seven shot attempts, one went through the net. That's pretty horrible.
The Heat ended up winning the game 97-93 in a tight, thrilling game, nonetheless.
Lakers at Boston Jan. 31, 2010
5 of 7The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics faced off on Jan. 31, 2010 in the most widely viewed non-Christmas Day game ever on ABC.
It was a fantastic game which concluded with Kobe Bryant hitting a go-ahead shot to cap a rally that saw the Lakers come back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter.
It was a great game and a prelude to the NBA Finals.
Bulls at Lakers, Christmas Day, 2011
6 of 7This was the highest-rated prime-time Christmas Day game in ESPN history scoring a 4.0 rating, which marked a 48 percent increase from 2010.
The game was marked by being the inaugural game of the season for two of the largest-market teams in the US, and with both teams setting sights on the NBA Finals this year, it was a huge boost in the ratings.
It wasn't a disappointment on the court either. The game went down to the wire, with reigning MVP Derrick Rose hitting the first game-winning shot of his career to win the game 88-87.
Lakers vs. Heat, Christmas Day, 2010
7 of 7Last year's game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day was the most-hyped and most-watched game since 2004, delivering a 6.4 rating.
It was a completely disappointing performance by the Lakers though, as they were absolutely obliterated by the Heat. LeBron James scored a triple-double with 27 points, 11 boards and 10 dimes.
This might have been the most-hyped and most-watched game, but the 96-80 final result wasn't what the fans were hoping to see.
