The NBA will experiment with a 44-minute game when the Brooklyn Nets host the Boston Celtics on Oct. 19 in the preseason.

The league wants to examine the flow of a shorter game as compared to the standard 48-minute game.

"At our recent coaches' meeting, we had a discussion about the length of our games, and it was suggested that we consider experimenting with a shorter format," said NBA President, Basketball Operations Rod Thorn. "After consulting with our Competition Committee, we agreed to allow the Nets and Celtics to play a 44-minute preseason game in order to give us some preliminary data that will help us to further analyze game-time lengths."

Application of the experimental 44-minute game will involve quarters being reduced from their typical 12 minutes each to 11 and a reduction in mandatory timeouts in the second and fourth quarters. 

"When this idea came up at the coaches' meeting, I thought it was a unique experiment that was worth participating in," said Lionel Hollins. "I'm looking forward to gauging its impact on the flow of the game. Since there is a shorter clock, it affects playing time, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays into substitution patterns."