Lakers surprised about NBA’s 44-minute preseason game

"Los Angeles Lakers vs Golden State Warriors during a game on Sunday, October 12, 2014 at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Ca. (Micah Escamilla/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)"

“Los Angeles Lakers vs Golden State Warriors during a game on Sunday, October 12, 2014 at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Ca. (Micah Escamilla/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)”

The NBA may have found a solution for the Lakers both to reduce their double-digit losses and shorten playing time for Kobe Bryant.

The league will have the Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics exhibition game on Sunday last 44 minutes with quicker timeouts, an experiment the NBA wants to assess the flow of a shorter game

“I’m kind of old school and used to 48 minutes,” Bryant said. “At this stage, I won’t complain if it’s less.”

But will it make a difference?

The NBA will not implement this rule for the 2014-15 season. But the leagues wants to collect preliminary data to see how they can shorten the game, which could help maximize a players’ health during a grinding 82-game season. But there’s one potential downside: all NBA players will have fewer chances to break league records. Consider Wilt Chamberlain’s record 100-point mark or Bryant’s 81-point game as milestones that will stay intact.

“If it makes everyone’s career go longer, that’s great,” Lakers guard Jeremy Lin said. “With the whole stats and records, I don’t see myself breaking any records anytime soon. That’s not on the top of my list. I think we’re okay. I just want the league to be as healthy as we can.”

A bigger solution would, of course, involve shortening the 82-game season. But that seems highly unlikely because that would shrink revenue both from the owners and players.

“I do think it will make the game quicker,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “The scores will probably be lower. Other than that, I have no problem with it. I don’t care one way or another, as long as we’re playing.”


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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com