How long is a basketball game?
An NBA game has four 12-minute quarters, for 48 minutes of playing time. FIBA international and WNBA games use four 10-minute quarters, for 40 minutes.
The game clock stops for fouls, timeouts, free throws and when the ball goes out of bounds, so an NBA game usually takes about two to two and a half hours in real time. There is a halftime break of 15 minutes.
If the score is tied at the end of regulation, the teams play overtime periods of five minutes until there is a winner. US college basketball games use two 20-minute halves for men and four 10-minute quarters for women.
The shot clock
Teams must try a shot within a set time: 24 seconds in the NBA and FIBA games, and 30 seconds in US college basketball. The NBA introduced the shot clock in 1954 to speed up the game.
Did You Know?
The longest NBA game went six overtimes. The Indianapolis Olympians beat the Rochester Royals 75–73 in 1951, before the shot clock existed.