• by Wayne Friedman , June 1, 2011

This year's NBA Finals may not have two storied franchises competing, but the first game between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks showed strong ratings growth.

The game on ABC hit a Nielsen preliminary strong 5.5 rating/14 share among 18-49 viewers -- 22% better than the first game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics of a year ago, which came in at a 4.5 rating.

ABC improved throughout the evening. First, it had its usual Jimmy Kimmel sports special, which posted a 2.2/7. Then the "Buick Regal NBC Countdown" pre-game show registered a 2.8/8. From there, the NBA game itself rose in each half-hour -- from a 4.5 rating all the way to a 6.1 in its first half hour.

Perhaps the bigger story comes with NBC, which began its sturdy summer talent series "America's Got Talent." It rose about 20% to a 4.2/14 versus a year ago for a special two-hour premiere edition. NBC's "The Voice" -- going the way of major series finales, including "American Idol" and other shows of a week ago -- resumed its near-five rating-point mark, earning a 4.9/12 at 10 p.m.

Only ABC and NBC were the real players to post decent results on the first day after the Memorial Day weekend. Every other network was in reruns, except for Fox running the remaining episodes of "Traffic Light," which earned a 0.8/2.

In early returns, ABC looks to edge out NBC with a 4.5/12 average versus NBC's 4.4/12 for the night. But given the usual sports ratings adjustment, ABC will look to add some viewership to its final totals. For other networks among 18-49 viewers, Univision came in at third place with a 1.5/7; CBS with a 1.4/4; Fox at a 1.0/3; and CW with a 0.3/1.