Basketball is one of the most exciting sports, but also one of the longest, especially the exciting NBA games, although it is a little difficult to say the exact duration of a game, which is easier to define if we refer to its time in minutes.
First, it is important to clarify that the length of an NBA game is not the same as the length of games in competitions regulated by the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
How long do basketball games last?
Games in WNBA competitions are played over two 20-minute halves, for a total playing time of forty minutes.
FIBA games are played over four quarters lasting 10 minutes each for a total of 40 minutes, with five minutes of overtime (if needed).
NCAA men’s games are forty minutes long divided into two 20-minute halves, while women’s games are four 10-minute quarters.
How long are NBA games in minutes?
Each basketball game regulated by the NBA is played in four quarters of 12 minutes each, for a total of 48 minutes.
However, to that time must be added the halftime that lasts 15 minutes, as well as the constant pauses during the game due to fouls, injuries and free throws.
We cannot forget the timeouts that each team has, up to seven timeouts per game, four of them mandatory, having to take a full timeout per quarter and not being able to use more than three timeouts in the last quarter.
NBA timeouts have been 75 seconds in length since the 2017-18 season, changing the format of short and long timeouts previously implemented.
In short, an NBA game has an average duration of 2.5 hours, although in some cases, mainly due to playing overtime, they reach a duration of up to three hours.
Just as a curious fact, the longest NBA game took place on January 6, 1951 between the Indianapolis Olympians and the Rochester Royals at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York.
The playing time was 78 minutes and the Olympians won the game 75-73, including six overtimes to be included in the Guinness World Records.