By John Raffel

The NBA's shortened preseason and regular season didn't hurt television ratings for Christmas Day, as the league enjoyed strong viewership.

The Knicks-Celtics matchup at noon ET on TNT, was up 52 percent from a similar Knicks-Bulls contest last season, according to a report in USA Today.

A Miami-Dallas tilt that aired on ABC boasted 6 percent better ratings than a Boston-Orlando game.

A Chicago-L.A. Lakers game dipped 6 percent but still was ABC's third-highest ever NBA overnight rating at 6.5 according to USA Today.

Orlando-Oklahoma City and the L.A. Clippers-Golden State Warriors on ESPN later in the evening garnered about one-third of the viewers as the Lakers-Bulls contest as some NBA fans probably headed to bed.

Their ratings were still up 36 percent to 77 percent over similar contests last season, according to the publication, which had to be a boost for the league.

Copyright ©. All rights reserved

 

NBA TV Ratings Soar on Christmas Day Despite Recent Labor Strife