how long are nba games

NBA games have a total playing time of 48 minutes, divided into four quarters of 12 minutes each. However, the actual duration of an NBA game is much longer due to stoppages such as timeouts, fouls, halftime, and commercial breaks. The halftime break itself typically lasts around 15 minutes. An NBA game usually lasts about 2 to 2.5 hours in real time. If the game goes into overtime, each overtime period adds an additional 5 minutes of play, which can extend the total game length further. The presence of timeouts and game stoppages contribute significantly to this extended duration beyond the 48 minutes of play time.