Heat-Spurs draw 9.0 rating for Game 1

Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the first half in Game 1 of the NBA basketball finals on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in San Antonio.AP

NEW YORK — The San Antonio Spurs’ victory over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night drew an average television audience of 14,846,000 viewers and a 9.0 national rating, Nielsen said Friday.

The average viewership on ABC was up 4 percent from 14,241,000 for last year’s opening game between the teams and the rating was up 2 percent from an 8.8. The 9.0 rating matched the second-highest NBA Finals opener since 2004.

Nielsen Social said the game was the most-tweeted NBA game of the year with more than 3.2 million tweets. The game also was most-talked about television program of the day, accounting for 76 percent of all TV conversation on Twitter.

Game 2 is Sunday night.