NBA to experiment with shorter game

MAYBE A shorter game is something 76ers fans would like to see. And perhaps it's not too far away.

The NBA announced yesterday it will experiment with a 44-minute game this exhibition season when Boston visits Brooklyn on Sunday. One minute will be chopped from each quarter, and timeouts for each team will be reduced from 10 to eight, two per quarter.

"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 Rod Thorn, NBA president and former Sixers president. "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."

Hollis Thompson could be out up to another week after suffering a corneal abrasion in Wednesday's game against Charlotte. Thompson is the best shooter on Brett Brown's squad, and his role isn't very easy to fill, as there simply aren't a lot of proven shooters on the roster.

"No. Nope. I wish I could tell you differently," Brown said when asked whether anyone can fill Thompson's shooting role. "There is nobody that has stood out. I say that not so much as a slight on the players at all. I don't mean it to be that way. I haven't seen enough to say that somebody is right on Hollis' doorstep as our best shooter. If you made me say a name, I'd say Jason Richardson. He may even trump Hollis."

Richardson is still sidelined from major knee surgery a year and a half ago. Last night in Syracuse, N.Y., against the New York Knicks, Brown started JaKarr Sampson at shooting guard. Thompson did not travel with the team, but could resume practicing today.

The team will host the Boston Celtics tomorrow, then play the Orlando Magic in Allentown on Saturday. The Sixers will close out the preseason next week with games at Brooklyn on Monday and at Detroit on Thursday . . . At practice Monday, coach Brett Brown said that "cuts would be made in the not-too-distant future."

Blog: ph.ly/Sixerville