Kyrie Irving

Cavs-Celtics game second most-watched opener on TNT

Published Oct. 18, 2017 8:40 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) Cleveland's victory over Boston in the first game of the NBA season was TNT's second most-watched telecast ever on opening night.

The network says the Tuesday telecast peaked with 6.7 million viewers and its audience was a 95 percent increase over last season's opener. The game featured Kyrie Irving's return to Cleveland after his trade to the Celtics and was marred by Gordon Hayward's gruesome ankle injury in his first game in a Boston uniform.

The game ranked fifth in TNT's viewership for any regular-season game.

The opening-night doubleheader, capped by Houston's victory over defending champion Golden State, averaged 4.9 million viewers. Turner Sports says Wednesday that's up 53 percent from last year and was its most-watched opening night since 2010.

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