Sport 1 between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves averaged 7.02 million viewers throughout TNT and truTV.
That quantity is down 5% from the Lakers-Nuggets opener from final season.
The sport, which peaked at 8.69 million viewers, is the second-largest viewers of the playoffs.
Sport 1 between the Pacers and Celtics averaged 6.48 million viewers.
