| | Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The NBA, concerned with quickening the pace of
play late in games, announced a series of changes to timeout rules
Tuesday.
The league also adopted a change giving a player fouled when he
has a clear path to the basket one free throw and his team
possession at midcourt. The old rule gave the player two free
throws.
The modifications, recommended by the league's competition
committee and approved by the Board of Governors, take effect next
season.
Instead of seven timeouts per game, teams will be limited to six
with a maximum of three in the fourth quarter instead of the
previous limit of four. During the last two minutes of the fourth
period or an overtime period, teams will be allowed two timeouts,
down from three.
Full timeouts will be reduced from 100 seconds to 60 seconds,
except for the first two timeouts in each period and the mandatory
timeouts in the second and fourth quarters. Those will continue to
be 100 seconds.
Teams will be allowed unlimited substitutions during 20-second
timeouts, a change from the old rule that permitted teams calling
the timeout one sub with the other team allowed to substitute only
if their opponents did so.
A new rule allows an offensive team to call a regular or
20-second timeout in the final two minutes for the purpose of
advancing the ball to midcourt. The team has the option of
inbounding the ball in the frontcourt or backcourt. If it passes
into the backcourt, the 10-second rule applies. Previously, teams
could advance the ball only by calling a regular timeout and had to
inbound the ball in the frontcourt.
If neither team has taken a timeout in the second or fourth
quarter when there is 8:59 remaining, there will be a mandatory
timeout after the first dead ball. If neither team has taken a
timeout in all four periods when there is 5:59 remaining, there
will be a mandatory timeout after the first dead ball. The old rule
provided for timeouts after dead balls after 9:59 in the second and
fourth periods and after 6:59 in every period.
After jump balls, if the offense retains possession, the shot clock
is reset to 14 seconds or remains the same if there are more than
14 seconds on the clock. If the defense gains possession, the clock
is reset to 24 seconds. Previously, if the offense retained
possession, the clock was reset to 24 seconds.
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