The NBA season tips off tonight on NBC, and the network should be looking to top an average of around 3 million viewers for the doubleheader. That's the ballpark average that TNT had over the last five seasons (2.94 million viewers) for its opening night doubleheader. For the second year in a row, NBA Opening Night will have no competition from the MLB LCS round.

NBC has Rockets-Thunder in the early window, and those openers over the last five seasons have averaged 2.73 million viewers. Last year's Celtics-Knicks game in that window drew just over 3 million, which is the high mark for the early game over the last five years.

In the late window, NBC has Warriors-Lakers, albeit without F LeBron James in the purple and gold. The Warriors and Lakers have been mainstays in this late window on opening night (playing twice against one another from 2020-2024). For each of the past five late windows on opening night, TNT averaged 3.15 million viewers, but last year, Lakers-T'Wolves drew just 2.91 million.