The national audience apparently took to last night's Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Ratings aren't official yet, but Mavericks-Heat appears to have easily won its time slot. Ratings were up 17% over last year's Game 5 in a competitive series between the two biggest and most popular Finals rivals, the Lakers and Celtics. 

Certainly the game had an impact on the competition. Fox noted that its Thursday night hit "So You Think You Can Dance" was down 29 percent week to week among men 18-49, likely attributable to them tuning into the NBA finals instead.

 Gold Cup coverage during Mexico's national team win actually finished third during the 8-10 CDT time slots, so there was probably more audience taken from the NBA by soccer than other networks. Official ratings will be released later on Friday, but this series has certainly caught the attention of viewers.