NBA fans tuned into a marathon game the other night as the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings went into double-overtime.
The game ended up being an exhausting affair and had people talking about limitations on overtime and wondering if the league will ever make adjustments to the rules.
The NBA could reportedly implement a target score for overtime games, per @EricPincus
“That would prevent overlong broadcasts and overloading player minutes, like Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's playing 46 minutes in a double-overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings… https://t.co/CIDTJDrRUw pic.twitter.com/X91eAYb4QQ
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) February 27, 2023
NBA writer Eric Pincus has done some reporting and found that the league may in fact implement a “target score” for overtime games in the future.
This target score would be a pre-determined number that teams would be battling towards.
When a team met that threshold, the game would be over.
This would prevent games like the recent one that went long into the evening.
The NBA implemented a target score rule for the All-Star Game and it’s worked quite well, keeping the length reasonable and not tiring players out too much.
The news of the league tweaking overtime comes as they handle controversy around load management and how much time players participate during the season.
Perhaps a change in overtime procedures could minimize absences.
Currently, each overtime period consists of five minutes.
This approach has worked for a very long time but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver isn’t afraid of making alterations.
It is becoming very clear that he is focused on keeping players healthy and on the floor as much as possible.
Changing overtime regulations wouldn’t solve all of the problems related to that but it could help out a lot.
If Silver and the rest of the league decide to pursue changes, we might see them implemented next season.
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