The Dallas Mavericks' 2011 NBA Championship clinching win over the Miami Heat in Game 6 on Sunday drew huge T.V. ratings for ABC, with an overnight rating of 15.0, according to Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily. That means that 15 percent of all American households with televisions were tuned into Game 6, which (luckily for the NBA) came on an otherwise low-key Sunday evening.
Karp reports that the 15.0 rating constitutes the biggest Game 6 ever for ABC, and beat 2010's Finals Game 6 between the L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics by 22 percent. A year ago, the Lakers blew out the C's to even the series up at 3-3 and force a Game 7, which the Lakers won.
Game 6 of the 2006 NBA Finals between the Mavericks and Heat -- in which Miami clinched its first title -- only drew a rating of 10.1. Every game of this year's rematch did better ratings than the best game in 2006.