NEW YORK — It’s not just the city of Cleveland that’s happy with LeBron James and his comeback Cavaliers.

The seven-game series with the Golden State Warriors was the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998, the year Michael Jordan won the last of his six titles, the Nielsen company said Tuesday. Game 7 on Sunday, seen by 31 million viewers, was the most popular individual Finals game since Jordan’s clincher — with 10 million more people watching than during any other playoff game this year.

The winner-take-all game for the NBA championship went down to the last minute.

“I’m sure (ABC) wishes they were able to foresee that and price their ads accordingly,” said Jon Swallen, chief research officer for Kantar Media.

The series as a whole averaged 20.2 million viewers, Nielsen said.

The series also boosted ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, who recorded a show to air before each game in the East, and after the game out West. Thursday’s episode, with Oprah Winfrey, drew an all-time best 4.8 million viewers for a Kimmel show.