After winning the NBA TV ratings title the past two seasons, the Oklahoma City Thunder slipped to third among ratings for team telecasts on regional sports networks.
The San Antonio Spurs, which had won the ratings titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12, returned to No. 1 with an 8.4 rating on Fox Sports Southwest. The Cleveland Cavaliers were second with a 7.9 on Fox Sports Ohio, followed by Thunder, 7.2 on Fox Sports Oklahoma; Miami Heat, 5.0 on SunSports; and Chicago Bulls, 4.7 on CSN Chicago.
With the team failing to make the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, Thunder ratings slipped 19 percent from last season (8.