Lakers, Pistons Get Record TV Rating

NEW YORK — The seventh game of the NBA championship series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons was the highest-rated professional basketball ever on television, CBS reported Wednesday.

A network spokeswoman said the Lakers’ 108-105 victory Tuesday night drew a 21.2 rating and a 37 share. Each rating point represents 886,000 households, and each share point represents the number of households with TVs in use during the game.

The figures surpassed the previous highs of a 19.3 rating and 33 share, for the 1984 seventh game between Los Angeles and Boston, won by the Celtics 111-102.

The Lakers-Pistons game also ranks sixth on the all-time list of basketball games, exceeded only by five NCAA championship games, the spokeswoman said. The highest-ranked game was the Indiana State-Michigan State contest, which drew a 24.1 rating and 38 share.