This has to be unprecedented. If not, then I can’t remember the last time it happened.

Wednesday, a Stanley Cup Final opener couldn’t pull better ratings in the local cities of the two participating teams than an NBA semifinal playoff game with out of market teams.

Basketball, not hockey, was the top-rated sporting event for the evening in both New York and Los Angeles. The Miami-Boston game drew a 7.4 rating in New York and a 6.1 in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final featuring local teams in New Jersey-Los Angeles did a 5.1 rating in New York and a 4.2 in Los Angeles.

As predicted, it shows the limited ratings appeal for the New Jersey Devils in the New York area and the Los Angeles Kings in LA. You could be sure the New York numbers would have been much different if the Rangers advanced to the Final.

As for the Los Angeles component, can you imagine a Miami-Boston basketball game doing a better local rating in Chicago if the Blackhawks were playing Game 1 of a Cup Final? Or Detroit? St. Louis? Even Nashville?

And furthermore, Buffalo, with a 7.8 rating, led all major markets, easily beating New York and LA. Minneapolis actually tied LA for third at 4.2. Again, hard to remember when one of the participating team’s market wasn’t No. 1 for a Final game.

All told, Game 1 did a 2.4 rating, down 25 percent from last year’s game 1 between Boston-Vancouver.