NEW YORK (AP) -- Game 5 of the NBA finals drew its highest preliminary television rating since 2004.
The Boston Celtics'92-86 victory over the Lakers on Sunday night on ABC drew a 12.8 overnight rating. That's up 36 percent from the 9.4 for last year's Orlando-LA Game 5.
This series has been drawing higher ratings than the Celtics-Lakers matchup in 2008. The numbers have been the best since the Detroit-LA series six years ago. Game 5 that year earned a 15.5 overnight rating.
Ratings measure the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Overnight ratings represent the country's largest markets.
Game 6 of the series is tonight at Staples Center in Los Angeles. If necessary, Game 7 would be Thursday night in Los Angeles.
