NBA finals tops Nielsen ratings for the week

The Detroit Pistons had a better night last Sunday than Tony Soprano or Hugh Jackman — not to mention the Los Angeles Lakers.

The first game of the National Basketball Association finals, in which the Pistons surprised the favored Lakers, was the most popular show on prime-time television last week with 15.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That came despite competition from HBO’s season finale of “The Sopranos,” where Tony quelled a growing revolt in the ranks by gunning down his cousin. The drama was seen by 11 million viewers, Nielsen said.

At the same time, the Tony Awards — with Jackman as host — drew 6.5 million viewers on CBS. It was the smallest audience ever for Broadway’s biggest night.

As rerun season settles in, CBS led last week with an average of 8.2 million viewers (5.7 rating, 10 share). NBC had 8 million viewers (5.5, 10), ABC 5.8 million (3.8, 7), Fox 4.8 million (3.1, 6), the WB 2.7 million (1.9, 3) and UPN 2.6 million (1.7, 3).

The top 10 shows for the week ending Sunday: NBA Finals: Detroit vs. L.A. Lakers, Game 1, ABC, 15.4 million viewers; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 14.9 million; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 14.1 million; “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS, 13.4 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 13.4 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 13.3 million; “Law & Order,” NBC, 12.3 million; “Crossing Jordan,” NBC, 11.6 million; “Miss Universe Pageant,” NBC, 10.5 million; “Law & Order” special, NBC, 10.3 million.