Record Christmas Day viewers for Warriors vs Cavaliers match

A rematch of the championship series between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers drew nearly 11 million television viewers in the United States, making it the most-watched NBA Christmas Day telecast since 2011. Friday’s game drew 10.923 million viewers on ABC, according to Fast Nationals from Nielsen. It was up 17 percent from the comparable Christmas Day game in 2014 between the Cavaliers and Miami Heat. The average audience for the Oklahoma City Thunder-Chicago Bulls game on ABC also was up from last year, averaging nearly 6 million viewers. The ABC Christmas Day doubleheader average was up 13 percent from 2014. Bryant surprised to lead the early voting for the All-Star Kobe Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers are struggling so mightily in his final season in the NBA that it’s painful for his fans to watch one of the game all-time greats. So imagine his surprise to learn that he is leading the early voting for the All-Star, by a wide margin. Bryant has 719,235 votes, far ahead of runner-up Stephen Curry (510,202), the NBA’s reigning MVP for the Warriors, and more than double LeBron James of the Cavaliers (357,937). “Listen, I was making a little coffee run (Christmas) morning, got some gas and decided to just go on Instagram and peruse,” Bryant told reporters. “(I) saw the damn votes, and I was like, ‘What the hell?’ Shocked doesn’t do it justice ... It’s exciting. What can I say? Just thankful.” The 2016 NBA All-Star Game in Toronto would be Bryant’s 18th in his 20 seasons in the league, and he is second behind former Lakers and Bucks great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 19 appearances. Bryant is averaging 17.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 30.5 minutes per game this season and the Lakers have a record of 5-25, worst in the Western Conference.