The Nets and Celtics will play a 44-minute game this week as the NBA uses the preseason to experiment with game-time lengths.
The game, to be played at the Barclays Center Sunday, will feature 11-minute quarters, down a minute from the standard 48-minute game. There will also be a reduction from three to two mandatory timeouts in the second and fourth quarters.
The NBA announced the news in a statement that, in part, read the league was “utilizing the preseason contest to examine the flow of a shorter game.”
“At our recent coaches’ meeting, we had a discussion about the length of our games, and it was suggested that we consider experimenting with a shorter format,” NBA President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn said in the statement. “After consulting with our competition committee, we agreed to allow the Nets and Celtics to play a 44-minute preseason game in order to give us some preliminary data that will help us to further analyze game-time lengths.”
During the 44-minute game, each quarter will feature two mandatory timeouts, with the first triggered at the first dead ball under 6:59 of the period if neither team has taken a timeout prior, and the second triggered by the first dead ball under 2:59 if neither team has taken a timeout subsequent to the first mandatory timeout. In the NBA’s 48-minute game, the second and fourth quarters have three mandatory timeouts.
“When this idea came up at the coaches’ meeting, I thought it was a unique experiment that was worth participating in,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said in the statement. “I’m looking forward to gauging its impact on the flow of the game. Since there is a shorter clock, it affects playing time, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays into substitution patterns.”
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