Thunder-Rockets, Lakers-Warriors on NBC set records not seen since 2010

The NBA is officially back in NBC on Tuesday evening until kick off NBA season 2025-26. With the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Golden State Warriorsthe opening was a long awaited event for the NBA, which returned to NBC for the first time since 2002.

The night did not disappoint and the numbers prove it.

The return of the NBA on NBC saw its biggest “NBA tip-off” audience with double the audience since 2010 — excluding opening day games in 2011 on Christmas after the lockout — with an average of 5.6 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, the NBA announced Thursday.

The 2010 NBA Tip-Off doubleheader (5.7 million viewers) featured LeBron James’ debut with the Miami Heat in the opener.

Data compiled from this week’s NBC opener is based on the official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The highlight of Tuesday night’s NBA NBA coverage on NBC was from 10:45-11:00 PM EST as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 125-124 in double overtime. Thunder-Rockets was first game with double overtime in the NBA opener since 2005 and just the sixth opening night game in NBA history to go to double overtime.

This is only the sixth time in NBA history that an opening night NBA game has gone to double overtime.

Other games:
▪ 11/2005: DAL 111 @ PHKS 108
▪ 11/02/1999: MIA 128 vs DET 122
▪ 11.01.1991: HOU 126 vs LAL 121
▪ 10/30/1981: HOU 113 @ LAL 112
▪ 27.10.1956: CHEESE…

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) October 22, 2025

The entire Thunder-Rockets game averaged 5.9 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 35 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Alperen Sengun had 39 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and five three-pointers in the loss.

In the second game of the opening night doubleheader, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors visited Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Warriors-Lakers nightcap averaged 5.1 million viewers across NBC and the Peacock. Because of the double-overtime thriller in Oklahoma City, Game 2 was timed from 11:02 PM EST, when the game aired on NBC, to 12:42 PM EST.

Golden State beat Los Angeles 119-109, despite Luka Doncic’s 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Jimmy Butler had 31 points, five rebounds, four assists and was a perfect 16 of 16 from the free throw line, while Stephen Curry added 23 points and four assists.

NBC’s Nielsen-only viewership allowed NBC’s broadcast network to win the night in primetime among adults of 18,049 against all networks.

In addition, NBA on NBC saw significant social media success on its opening night.

The Thunder-Rockets and Lakers-Warriors games were the most watched tip-off games EVER with more than 600 million views (and counting) across all NBA and third-party social accounts.

The NBA on NBC took nine of the top 10 and 19 of the top 20 topics at various points of the night, with multiple topics no. 1 trenders such as ‘Chet Holmgren’, ‘Alperen Sengun’ and ‘Lakers’, each of which trended no. 1 globally throughout the night, spanning multiple different points.

Tuesday’s “Roundball Rock” opener generated 5.6 million views across NBC Sports’ social media platforms, with “#NBAonNBC,” “Roundball Rock” and “NBA” trending for seven consecutive hours.

From the responsive nostalgic theme song and opening monologue from Mike Thirick to the blunder and high-quality in-game cameras, it was an incredibly successful night for the NBA on NBC.

NBA on Prime will debut on Friday night, with the Boston Celtics taking on the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves taking on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Monday night, October 27, is set to be the debut of ‘Peacock NBA Monday’, with the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves.