With the NBA Eastern Conference Finals heating up, basketball fans helped push the TD Garden in Boston, MA, into the No. 1 position this week in TicketNews’ exclusive venues rankings.

The Garden is home to the Boston Celtics, who are currently battling the Miami Heat for the right to go to the NBA Finals. The Celtics have won the last two games at the Garden, to even the series at two games apiece. The series now shifts to the American Airlines Arena in Miami (at No. 4 in the rankings) for Game 5 before returning to Boston for Game 6. Also helping to drive the venue into the top spot this week was the announcement and ticket sales of teen idol Justin Bieber, who is scheduled to perform at the event on November 10.

Other upcoming acts at TD Garden include Neil Diamond in June, the Global Warming Tour: Aerosmith and Cheap Trick for two dates in July; Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez and Wisin Y Yandel; as well as a two night performance from Coldplay at the end of July.

Box Office Fox Event Information Database

Grabbing the No. 2 position this week is MetLife Stadium (formerly New Meadowlands Stadium) in East Rutherford, NJ, which moved up from last weeks No. 4 spot. Helping to move the venue up the rankings this week were last minute ticket sales for the International Friendly soccer match between Argentina and Brazil, which was held on June 9. Also making stops at the stadium in upcoming months are Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw with their Brothers of the Sun tour on August 11, and New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen, who will perform with his E Street Band there on September 19 through 22.

Rounding out the top three in this weeks rankings is the Rogers Centre, home the Toronto Blue Jays, in Toronto, Ontario. The venue made a big jump from its No. 16 place last week, thanks to the Canadian born Justin Bieber, who will perform there on December 1. Also helping the venue move up this week in the rankings were ticket sales for Roger Waters, appearing at the venue on June 23, and Bruce Springsteen, who is scheduled for August 24.

TicketNews Exclusive Rankings and Power Scores are based on ticket sales for venues from the TicketNetwork Exchange™. A Power Score illustrates a given venue’s significance among all other venues listed in the Exchange. Two factors are used to calculate a power score: total ticket sales for a venue, and total ticket sales overall.

Top Venues

Week Ending 6/3/12

       Venue Score
1 TD Garden (Fleet Center) Tickets 2.34
2 MetLife Stadium (Formerly New Meadowlands Stadium) Tickets 2.14
3 Rogers Centre Tickets 2.13
4 American Airlines Arena Tickets 1.98
5 AT&T Center Tickets 1.91
6 Staples Center Tickets 1.90
7 Eugene O’Neill Theatre Tickets 1.59
8 Toyota Center – TX Tickets 1.52
9 Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tickets 1.47
10 American Airlines Center Tickets 1.41
11 Allstate Arena Tickets 1.37
12 Rogers Arena (formerly General Motors Place) Tickets 1.36
13 Wells Fargo Center – PA (formerly Wachovia Center) Tickets 1.35
14 Madison Square Garden Tickets 1.34
15 Pepsi Center Tickets 1.29
16 Verizon Center – DC Tickets 1.27
17 MGM Grand Garden Arena Tickets 1.27
18 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Tickets 1.26
19 Yankee Stadium Tickets 1.23
20 Palace Of Auburn Hills Tickets 1.18