Celtics-Nets to play 44-minute preseason game

A weekend preseason date between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets will be a trial case for an abbreviated game length of 44 minutes.

The game Sunday at Barclays Center will be reduced as the NBA examines “the flow of a shorter game as compared to the standard 48-minute game.”

Four 11-minute quarters and a reduction in mandatory media timeouts the second and fourth quarters could expedite the 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. “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.”

Two mandatory timeouts per quarter remain in place — at the first dead ball under 6:59 of the period if neither team has taken a timeout prior, and the second mandatory timeout will be triggered by the first dead ball under 2:59 if neither team has taken a timeout subsequent to the first mandatory timeout.

Typically, there are three mandatory timeouts in the second and fourth quarters.

“When this idea came up at the coaches’ meeting, I thought it was a unique experiment that was worth participating in,” said Nets coach Lionel Hollins. “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.”