The final viewership numbers are in for the NBA’s five games on Christmas Day and they were even better than first thought, the league and ESPN announced Monday.

For the last two weeks, the sports-media cognoscenti have gotten themselves all worked up about the NBA's TV ratings, divining disaster from a few desultory sniffs through the early-season results. For some,

Recently, the National Football League decided to go head-to-head with the National Basketball Association on Christmas Day. It's become a sports turf war of sorts.