NEW YORK, NY — The star power of Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson helped this year’s NBA Finals get off to a huge start in terms of viewership, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the last Finals matchup between LeBron James and Stephen Curry eight years ago.

Game 1 of the Finals matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks averaged nearly 17 million viewers on Wednesday night, up 90% when compared to last season’s Finals Game 1. It was the most-watched Game 1 since 2018, the most recent time James — then of Cleveland — and Golden State’s Curry faced off in the title round.

Wednesday’s game had a peak audience of 19.63 million viewers around 11 p.m. EDT, which would have been in the fourth quarter of New York’s 105-95 victory.

It was the most-watched Finals Game 1 ever on ABC and the most-watched Finals contest since Game 6 of the 2019 title series between Toronto and Golden State.