NBA Play-In Tourney Gets Warriors Boost Before Move to Streaming

Golden State fell to No. 7 in the Western Conference following an overtime loss Sunday to the Clippers, denying the NBA of a first-round battle between the Warriors and Lakers that would have been a ratings goldmine.

The consolation prize for the league, however, is that Golden State will provide a boost to Year 6 of the Play-In Tournament—the last one that will air on cable before it moves to Amazon Prime Video next season when the league’s 11-year, $77 billion deal kicks in. 

The Warriors have competed in two of the first five years of the tournament, and while they have yet to win a game (0-3), they have always rated well. Golden State played in the two most-watched Play-In Tournament games: 2021 against the Lakers on ESPN, which drew 5.6 million viewers, and last year against the Kings, which averaged 4.1 million viewers on TNT.

This year is the second time that Golden State and Memphis will play each other in the tournament, and their 2021 face-off drew 3.7 million viewers on ESPN, the fourth-most-watched tournament game.

There’s no guarantee what the NBA’s viewership numbers will look like when games are moved exclusively to streaming, but it’s fair to expect a dip compared to cable based on the NFL’s Thursday Night Football ratings.

Play-In Purpose Fulfilled?

The Play-In Tournament was established to discourage teams from tanking, and while that has yet to stop many cellar dwellers from jockeying for the best draft lottery odds, it has at least created more late-season intrigue as teams battle for the playoffs. A top-six finish not only guarantees teams a playoff spot, but allows additional rest before the postseason.

The winners of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in games on Tuesday will get four days of rest before playing on Sunday, while the final two tournament winners will get just one day off. Teams with outright playoff spots have at least five days of rest.

While most teams rested their stars during the NBA’s 15-game slate on Sunday, some games had postseason ramifications, particularly the Clippers-Warriors battle that aired on ESPN. 

Los Angeles secured the No. 5 seed with the win, and more importantly, a playoff spot. There’s no guarantee that either team would have trotted out their best players had the game only been for seeding, especially when the Nuggets game wrapped up and it was confirmed that, regardless of the result, neither team would receive home-court advantage in the first round.