The Mavericks' season ended April 10, and TV numbers now are trickling in that reflect a more successful season off the court than the team's 33-49 on-court record indicates.

According to Nielsen, the Mavericks enjoyed the highest regional TV ratings surge in the NBA this season. Dallas' 86 percent increases in viewership and ratings from last season to this season on Fox Sports Southwest surpassed No. 2 Denver's 77 percent increases.

The average rating of Mavericks games on FSSW increased from 0.7 to 1.3. The numbers no doubt are a reflection of local excitement generated by the addition and play of rookie Luka Doncic, as well as late-season interest in the final games of Dirk Nowitzki's illustrious 21-season career.

While Dallas' regional ratings aren't in same stratosphere as those of Golden State, Oklahoma City and Utah, which annually draw 6-7% of their markets' viewership, it's one of the few success stories league-wide during a season that as of mid-February had seen a 10% overall decline in regional TV viewership.

As this season showed, adding an exciting draft pick does not guarantee ratings success. Those same mid-February ratings as reported by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal had Phoenix Suns ratings at 0.85 (a 32% increase) and Atlanta Hawks ratings at 0.60 (3% increase).

And according to the NBA, the Mavericks' games were among the most highly watched in the NBA among international viewers -- again, no doubt largely because of Doncic and Nowitzki leading a Dallas team that entered the season with more international players on its roster (seven) than any team in the league.

NBA League Pass international subscriptions were up 21% this season, with Denver (41%) and Dallas (34%) leading the way in year-over-year unique viewer growth.

Denver's Nikola Jokic of Serbia and Slovenia native Doncic were, of course, the main reasons their home countries led the way in unique viewer growth: Serbia at 395%, Slovenia at 186%.

In Nowitzki's native country, Germany, League Pass international unique viewership grew by 11%.