Viewership for the second ever NBA Cup championship game declined significantly compared to last year’s debut, but still proved to be a substantial upgrade versus a normal regular season game.

Tuesday’s NBA Cup Final between the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder averaged 2.99 million viewers on ABC, per Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. That is down 35 percent versus last year’s championship game between the Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Lakers, which averaged 4.58 million viewers.

Despite being down big from last year, Bucks-Thunder still ranks as the second most-watched game so far for the NBA this season behind only the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics on Opening Night. Of course, NBA ratings have not been much to call home about this season, but it’s improbable that a regular season game between the Bucks and Thunder would come anywhere near three-million viewers in any other circumstance. As Lewis points out, both Bucks-Thunder games last season averaged under 400,000 on NBA TV.

Of course, the NBA Cup Final has the added bonus of airing unopposed to other regular season games, and on the ABC broadcast network — very abnormal conditions for what amounts to a game in the middle of the regular season.

Certainly the absence of LeBron James, still one of the league’s biggest draws even in his advanced age, didn’t help this year’s audience grow. The newness factor also has worn off in Year Two, so it’s possible that not as many people were NBA Cup-curious as last year.

Still, even with the diminished audience the NBA has to be satisfied. The competition has always been a long-term play for the league, which hopes that with time the NBA Cup will develop more meaning. Players seem bought into the concept, and some sports media pundits are arguing a Cup title can be a differentiator in comparing resumes.

Then there’s the simple fact that without the NBA Cup the league would be left with the same old regular season it has always had. Even if the viewership increase is modest versus a replacement-level regular season game, every bit helps. And the Bucks’ win has people talking about the NBA in December, right in the heart of NFL season.

That alone should be seen as a triumph for the league.

[Sports Media Watch]