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How long is each quarter of a basketball game


Basketball Quarters

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A quarter in basketball refers to the period of time in one section of a basketball game. An NBA game is split into four 12-minute periods that are referred to as quarters. The game clock shows how much time is left in every given quarter, starting at 12:00 and running all the way to zero. This happens four times until the end of regulation. There is sometimes an overtime period of five minutes if the two teams are tied at the end of regulation.

Table of Contents

  • How Long are Breaks between Quarters in Basketball?
  • How Many Quarters are there in a Basketball Game?
  • Duration of Quarters
  • How Long is a Quarter in the NBA?
  • How Long is a Quarter in High School Basketball?
  • International Basketball Level
  • FAQ

How Long are Breaks between Quarters in Basketball?

In between quarters in basketball, the breaks are called intermissions.  The intermissions after the first, third, and fourth quarters last 130 seconds. These breaks are short, as there is a longer break called halftime in the middle of the game. 

Halftime is 15 minutes long and occurs between the second and third quarters. Teams return to their locker rooms to talk about what happened in the first half and what they can do better in the second half. It is also a good time to rest up and gain back some energy for the second half. It is crucial to have a productive halftime in order to see serious progress on the court in the form of tactical and lineup adjustments. 

How Many Quarters are there in a Basketball Game?

Usually, in the NBA or in high school, games are split up into four quarters, hence the name “quarter.” However, the duration of quarters differs between high school and in the NBA. There are four 12-minute quarters in the NBA, while quarter-length can be different in many different leagues for high schools. In the NCAA, they do not play quarters: instead, they play two 20-minute halves.

Duration of Quarters

The duration of quarters in high school can differ, but they are normally eight minutes each. The duration of quarters for the NBA is 12 minutes. In international basketball, the length of quarters is 10 minutes.

How Long is a Quarter in the NBA?

An NBA basketball game consists of regulation and possibly overtime quarters.

In regulation, there are four quarters that last 12 minutes each. This means that there are 48 minutes in regulation.

  • Quarter 1: 12:00
  • Quarter 2: 12:00
  • Quarter 3: 12:00
  • Quarter 4: 12:00

If the score is equal at the end of regulation, extra quarters of game time are played to determine the winning team. In the NBA, overtime periods last five minutes. The team with the most points at the end of the overtime quarter is the winner.

How Long is a Quarter in High School Basketball?

While high school basketball rules often vary from state to state, the basic rules are generally the same.  High school basketball quarters are eight minutes in length, with a 10-minute break at halftime. Because of this, a high school basketball game typically will last around an hour and a half. However, some states allow games to move along much quicker if a team is winning by a lot. Known as the mercy rule, if a team is leading by around 30 points, the clock will only stop for timeouts and injuries. 

International Basketball Level

The duration of a basketball quarter at the international level is 10 minutes. There is a two-minute gap between each quarter in the international leagues. These quarters are two minutes less than the duration of a quarter of basketball played in the NBA. Additionally, these quarters in total have the same amount of time as two 20-minute halves in college basketball.

FAQ

Why are there breaks in between quarters?

There are breaks in between quarters in order to give the players a rest in order for them to be fresh and ready for the start of the next quarter.  Halftime is longer than the other breaks between quarters in order to give players an even longer chance to rest for the half ahead of them and to gameplan what they can fix in their game. They can also talk about what they have been doing well and how they can continue to do this in the coming half. There are also media timeouts, which are used by television stations to pause for commercials.

How long are the quarters in Olympic basketball?

The Olympics use the same rules as international basketball by having 10-minute quarters. However, overtime periods in the Olympics are the same 5-minute length as NBA overtime.

Why are NBA quarters 12 minutes?

The NBA has always featured four 12-minute quarters, despite international and NCAA basketball featuring different period systems. This is in part because the NBA sought to keep games that ended in regulation to a rough maximum of just over two hours, including halftime and intermissions. Additionally, the general consensus is that the NBA considers this to be the ideal quarter length to promote a sustainably high level of play and an enjoyable viewing experience.

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How Long Is a NBA Game?

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Basketball is one of the hottest and most anticipated sports on the planet. However, newbies may not be sure about NBA game length. So, how long is a basketball game?

An average NBA game time usually lasts between 2 and 2.5 hours. However, that is not an exact number for all leagues or associations.

Scott Fujita will tell you the duration of specific basketball matches according to NBA, FIBA, NCAA, or NFHS rules.

An NBA game usually lasts between 2 and 2.5 hours.

Contents

How Long Is An NBA Game?

A typical NBA game usually lasts between 2 and 2.5 hours. However, that is not an exact number for all leagues or associations.

As we also mentioned above, basketball game time will vary from league to league. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), each period will be 12 minutes. Total playing time will be up to 48 minutes for the fourth-quarter game. The overtime period lasts for 5 minutes in a NBA game.

View more: 

  • How long is a college basketball game
  • How long is halftime in NBA
  • How long is a basketball court

Half time between 2nd and 3rd periods is 15 minutes. However, this is only theoretical time. Many factors make the time of an NBA match stretch to even 2 hours. It is a bit longer than the FIFA games. 

Basketball game time is often longer because of commercial breaks. 

How Long Are Basketball Games IN FIBA?

According to The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules, a game will have four quarters. How many minutes is a quarter in basketball in FIBA? Each quarter lasts 10 minutes, and the total basketball match will be 40 minutes. Compared to NBA quarter length, FIBA games have shorter quarters. 

In addition, there are additional regulations on the rest time between quarters. So, how long is a quarter in basketball games?

  • Basketball teams will have about 20 minutes to prepare before the game begins.
  • The halftime between the first half and second half is 2 minutes.
  • The half time between the 2nd and 3rd quarters is 15 minutes. The two teams need time to switch pitches and proceed to the next quarters.
  • The half time between the 3rd and 4th quarters is 2 minutes.
  • The time between the extra quarters is 2 minutes.

Overtime periods take place when both teams play all four quarters but still haven’t found a winner. If the team scores more goals in the first extra time, that team wins. At this point, the game will end.

Conversely, if the first overtime does not decide the winner, both teams will continue to play in the subsequent overtime. The halftime of FIBA games will start when the game clock sounds to announce the end of the half.

Each FIBA basketball quarter lasts 10 minutes. 

How Long Does a Basketball Game Last in NCAA Rule?

NCAA means the National Collegiate Athletic Association. 

College basketball games’ time is two halves of 20 minutes each. The total game time is about 2 hours 10 minutes. The half time between halves of the college games is 15 minutes. The overtime of a college basketball game is 5 minutes.

How Long Is a High School Basketball Game?

The NFHS is the organization that regulates the playing time of high school basketball games. Accordingly, high school games have four quarters. Each basketball quarter lasted eight minutes. The halftime is 10 minutes.

What Is the Longest NBA Game?

The longest NBA game in history happened in the 1951 season. It was a fiery encounter between the Rochester Royals and the Indianapolis Olympians at Edgerton Park Arena.

There are so many overtime periods that the actual game time is up to 78 minutes. That year, the Indianapolis Olympians excellently won 75-73 against the Royals. The match lasted six quarters instead of the usual four. It is also one of the Guinness World Records.

Besides, we can mention the longest college basketball game in 1981. This match took place with the participation of two teams, the Bradley Braves, and the Cincinnati Bearcats. 

The victory went to 75 minutes. It was just three minutes shorter than the 1951 match between the Olympians and the Royals mentioned above.

Not stopping there, this 1981 match broke another record. That’s the longest player on the field in a basketball game. 

Bradley center Donald Reese and Cincinnati guard Bobby Austin played on the field for 73 minutes. No one has overcome this to this day.

You can refer to some long NBA games via this video.

How Do NBA Games Take Place?

Twenty minutes before the match, the coaches of both teams will register the list of players. That list includes jersey numbers, names of players, captains, leading coaches, assistants. 

At that time, the coach appoints five players on the official list and confirms the score sheet. The home team will have the right to choose the basket and bench and then notify the main referee.

The referee blows the whistle, and the game starts. Two teams stand on the field to prepare. The ball is then “thrown” high by the referee in the circle in the center of the area. When any player touches the ball, then the timed game is “started.”

NBA games 

When Does Clock Stop?

The time of each quarter ends when the referee blows the whistle to end the quarter. The referee will stop the clock after the 4th quarter if there is a score difference.

There was an infraction during play, but the clock signaled the end of the period. How will the referee handle it? The player will take the free throw immediately afterward, before halftime.

The clock will stop during the time of the two teams to temporarily break and make substitutions. It also happens when a player commits a foul, and the ball goes out of the playing area.

A free throw occurs, which could lead to one, two, or even three free throws.

Clock stoppages happen when one team calls one timeout. Each NBA club has 60 seconds in the first timeout and a shorter time in the second timeout. The second timeouts depend on whether the NBA match is “nationally televised” or not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of the common questions that beginners have about the length of basketball games.

1. How long do basketball games last for youth leagues?

A youth basketball game often lasts about one hour. Most youth leagues games include two halves. The average length is 20 minutes for each half of the youth games.

2. How long is a women’s game in college basketball?

Women’s games often last two hours. There are four quarters, and each lasts 10 minutes. 

3. Why do playoff games usually last longer than regular-season games?

A playoff game takes longer than a regular-season game due to its longer commercial breaks.

Final Thoughts

Now you have general knowledge regarding the topic “how long are NBA games.We will keep you updated with the latest sports news about basketball and other sports on Scott Fujita. Thank you for reading!

How long is a quarter in basketball (NBA, FIBA). Number of halves in a game

Home / All sports / How long is a quarter in basketball (NBA, FIBA). Number of halves in the game

12/22/2018 All sports Leave a comment 102,521 Views

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    It so happened that some rules of playing basketball in Europe and North America differ, and this primarily concerns the length of periods. The number of quarters in FIBA ​​and NBA matches is the same, however, Americans, for whom basketball is considered one of the most popular sports, like to enjoy this wonderful game longer, therefore, in their rules, they increased the duration of each half by two minutes (compared to the International Federation of basketball)

    Interesting fact: In the early days of basketball there were only 13 rules, now there are more than 200.

    How many periods are there in a basketball game?

    A basketball game consists of 4 quarters (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) , this applies to both NBA and FIBA. Conventionally, the 1st and 2nd periods are the first half of the match, and the 3rd and 4th are the second. Between each quarter there is a two-minute break, but between the second and third half, the duration of the break is as much as 15 minutes.

    According to the officially established rules, there can be no draw in basketball. If after 4 periods the score is equal, another quarter is played lasting 5 minutes. The number of extra periods is not limited, there may be several such five-minute periods until the winning team is determined.

    How long is a quarter in basketball (NBA and FIBA)?

    In Europe, tournaments held under the auspices of FIBA, the duration of each game is 40 minutes, that is, each quarter lasts 10 minutes .

    In the United States of America, where the ruling organization in basketball is the NBA, the duration of the match is 48 minutes, that is, the time of each period is not 10, but 12 minutes. It turns out that in the USA, due to these two minutes added to each quarter, advertisers have more time to show their products to the viewer (the longer the viewer is at the TV screens, the more money the clubs earn on advertising). That is why the NBA is the richest and most popular basketball league on the planet.

    Many people are also interested in how long a basketball game lasts in Europe and the USA. In general, taking into account the duration of all quarters, half-time intervals and dead ball situations (eg fouls, free throws and other stoppages), the total duration of the match is 2-3 hours.

    The average regular season game in the NBA is 137 minutes.

    The duration of basketball matches in the Olympic Games and competitions under the auspices of FIBA ​​is shorter than in US tournaments, since the same match duration is 8 minutes shorter. FIBA also has fewer timeouts. In the NBA, both teams get 14 timeouts per game for two, with 2 timeouts in each period being mandatory (so-called television timeouts). FIBA and the Olympic Games have 5 timeouts, and teams may not necessarily use them.

    Do you know how long the longest basketball game lasted?

    The record for the length of a basketball game was recorded in 2006 in the United States of America. The duel was held specifically to set a record, the student teams "North Carolina" and "Duke" played each other for more than 58 hours in a row, the victory was won by "Duke" with a score of 3688:3444. All proceeds from ticket sales went to charity.

    Conclusion

    Some NBA and FIBA ​​basketball rules differ. So, one of the main differences is the duration of the periods, in US tournaments each lasts 12 minutes, and in Europe - 10 minutes. A basketball game can never end in a draw, so there is no limit to the number of added halves. If you are planning to visit a basketball game, please note that it can take as much as 2-3 hours to watch.

    Interesting: the tallest basketball players in the world.

    2018-12-22

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    Quarter in basketball - how long does it last, what is it, how many quarters in basketball

    Danila Chezhin

    The time of a basketball game is divided into segments - quarters. This format in many ways makes basketball so popular all over the world. In this article, we will talk about how many quarters there are in basketball, what quarters are, and how the "quarter" division affects the game as a whole.

    What is a basketball quarter?

    Almost all sports divide the total game time into segments. Such a meeting arrangement makes games more interesting and dramatic, allows athletes to relax, and coaches to influence the course of the match. A quarter is part of a basketball match, like a period in hockey, a set in tennis, or a half in football. All these are segments that are formed in accordance with the rules of a particular sports discipline.

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    How long is a quarter in basketball

    The length of a basketball quarter in the world's leading organizations varies. In European basketball, according to the rules set by FIBA, the basketball federation, a quarter lasts 10 minutes. The NBA, the major basketball league in North America, has a time limit of 12 minutes.

    It is important to understand that basketball uses time. That is, when the game process on the court stops due to a violation or substitutions, the time counter also turns off. Therefore, one quarter can go more than half an hour if there are enough stops. The stopwatch starts as soon as the ball is in play - from out of bounds, after a missed free throw or after a kick-off throw.

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    How many quarters are there in basketball

    The word quarter itself means one fourth of the whole. It is clear that there are four quarters in basketball. These are segments equal to each other, within which the same rules apply. For example, in European basketball there is a limit of 5 team fouls per quarter. In any of the segments, the team has the right to break the rules 5 times, even in the first, even in the second, even in the fourth.

    The exception is matches that ended with an equal score. But since there are traditionally no draws in basketball, the meeting continues in an additional round - overtime. If the overtime ended with an equal score, another one is assigned. And so on - until the end. Overtime duration is 5 minutes. Both in European and American competitions.

    It is also worth noting here that the "quarter" format did not appear in basketball immediately, and even now it is not used everywhere. Back in the late 1990s in Europe, the club and national teams played two halves of twenty minutes. This division is still used in overseas student basketball - NCAA.

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    Breaks between quarters

    There are pauses between playing periods in basketball. Moreover, the break between the first and second quarters, as well as between the third and fourth is minimal - 2 minutes. The pause between the second and third quarters is called the big break. Its duration is 15 minutes. The start of the big break is the official end of the first half of the game. The end of the long break is the start of the second half.

    A break between quarters in basketball is not the only stoppage in a game. There are others - in the course of the quarters. They are called timeouts. Each team has the right to stop the game several times during the meeting. Mostly timeouts are used by coaches to make adjustments to tactics and make changes to lineups. In the NBA, each team has a limit of 7 timeouts per game. In Europe - 5.

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