ESPN's Coverate of Western Conference Final Game 5 Delivers Record Ratings

Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Western Conference Finals - the Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets to advance to the NBA FINALS - delivered a strong 6.8 overnight rating, according to Nielsen. The game peaked with an 8.1 rating from 11:30 p.m. - 11:45 p.m. ET.

Last night's telecast is the highest-rated NBA game on ESPN since its telecast of Miami Heat-Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 on June 9, 2012. Game 5 is also the highest-rated ESPN telecast of 2015 since the inaugural COLLEGE FOOTBALL Playoff National Championship on January 12.

Additionally, Game 5 was up double-digits from both the Western Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Finals Game 5's in 2014. Last night's 6.8 was up 28 percent from a 5.3 for San Antonio-Oklahoma City in 2014 and up 19 percent from a 5.7 for Miami-Indiana in 2014.

Record local numbers

Locally, Game 5 delivered records in both team markets. In San Francisco, Game 5 generated a 21.9 and in Houston, the telecast posted a 17.1. Both rank as the highest-rated NBA games on ESPN in those markets, as far as records go back (2003).

Game 5 on WatchESPN

Golden State-Houston Game 5 delivered an average minute audience of 171,571 on WatchESPN. This is the second-highest average minute audience ever for an NBA game on the platform.

SportsCenter

Last night's midnight ET edition of SportsCenter on ESPN delivered a 3.1 overnight rating, making it the highest-rated SportsCenter in the timeslot since the night of the inaugural COLLEGE FOOTBALL National Championship game.

ABC will exclusively present the 2015 NBA FINALS - Golden State Warriors versus Cleveland Cavaliers - beginning with Game 1 on Thursday, June 4, at 9 p.m. ET. More coverage details will be released in the coming days.