Even a dreamy 'The Mentalist' and his paradoxically smolderly hot assistant can figure out why a Denver-Nevermind NBA Finals had no chance

In a post-season of stale reruns and gamey reality shows, some of which are TiVo'd and deleted before they're even watched, what surprise is it that the Lakers' appearance on three prime-time over-the-air telecasts gave ABC the top-rated TV programs (in the adults 18-to-49 age range) for the week of June 8-14.

The data produced by today's Sports Business Daily:

1. NBA Finals: Lakers-Magic Game 4 on ABC, June 11 (Thursday): 9.4 rating, 15,957,000 viewers

2. NBA Finals: Lakers-Magic Game 3 on ABC, June 9 (Tuesday): 8.6 rating, 14,196,000 viewers

3. NBA Finals: Lakers-Magic: Game 5 on ABC, June 14 (Sunday): 8.0 rating, 14,171,000 viewers

4. "The Mentalist" on CBS June 9: 7.6 rating, 11,621,000 viewers

5. "NCIS" on CBS June 9: 7.2 rating, 11,052,000 viewers

6. "Two and a Half Men" on CBS June 8: 6.1 rating, 9,517,000 viewers

7. "The Mentalist" on CBS June 11: 6.1 rating, 8,944,000 viewers

8. "48 Hours Mystery" on CBS June 9, 6.1 rating, 8,846,000 viewers

9. "CSI:" on CBS June 11: 5.9 rating, 8,740,000 viewers

10. "So You Think You Can Dance?" on Fox June 10: 5.3 rating, 8,687,000 viewers

Also consider the Lakers-Magic series overall was down 4 percent compared to the Lakers-Celtics a year ago.