West Game 7 ratings

NEWYORK— Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals drew a peak audience of 18 million viewers, making it the secondmost watched NBA game in cable TV history.

Golden State’s victory over Houston on Monday night to earn a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals averaged 14.8 million viewers for the TNT telecast. The network said Tuesday that only its coverage of the 2016 West finals Game 7 between the Warriors and Oklahoma City drew a larger audience for an NBA game on cable.

Tyronn Lue had to miss time to deal with health issues, Love missed two months, they lost 11 games by 16 or more points, revamped their roster in February and spent much of the season unable to guard anybody.

They’re in the Finals again anyway, led by someone who will play in the last series of the season for an absurd eighth consecutive year.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” said James, who is seeking a fourth ring in his ninth Finals appearance overall. “It’s been good, it’s been bad. It’s been roses. There have been thorns in the roses. There’s been everything that you can ask for.”

This wasn’t all peaches for Golden State, either. The Warriors didn’t get the No. 1 seed out West, lost Curry to a knee injury late in the regular season, lost 10 of their final 17 games and got pushed to the brink.

“I’m glad we’re going back,” Warriors forward Kevin Durant said.