Following the first three regular-season games, Hawks’ television ratings on SportSouth were up 44 percent over last season.

In the first three games this season, the Hawks played the Raptors, Pacers and Spurs. The ratings were up nearly half of last season when the Hawks opened with the Mavericks, Raptors and Lakers.

The season home-opening win over the Pacers did 18 percent better than last season’s home opener against the Raptors.

Wednesday’s last-second loss to the Spurs tied or exceeded all but six regular-season Hawks games last season for the network.