The Elam Ending has worked beautifully as a way to end the NBA All-Star Game. In that exhibition, a target is set after three quarters — 24 points higher than the leading team’s score (24 to honor Kobe Bryant) — and the first team to hit that target wins.
Now the league will test the Elam Ending out as a way to decide G League overtime games — and every game during the G League Showcase.
Thursday the G League announced its full schedule for the upcoming season — including 50 games for the developmental G League Ignite, led by likely top-three pick Scoot Henderson — plus a few ruled changes. But it was the overtime rule that turned heads.
If a G League game ends in a tie, a “target score” of seven added points will be in place for overtime — the first team to pass that number wins. The league said seven was chosen so that a game could not end in two possessions (technically, it still could if a player were fouled on a made 3-pointer in the OT, but that’s unlikely).
We’re a long way from that coming to the NBA, but the G League is where the Association tests out rules and ideas before bringing them to the entire league.
For the G League showcase games in Las Vegas come December, there will be no fourth-quarter clock. Instead, after three quarters a target score will be set 25 points higher than the leading team’s score. For example, if after three quarters the score is 75-70, the target score becomes 100 and the first team to pass that point total wins.
The G League season will tip off on Nov. 4 and start with an 18-game showcase cup, which culminates in a tournament in Las Vegas, the G-League Showcase, Dec. 19-22. That is followed by 32 regular season games (a total of 50 games, plus playoffs).
There will be full 50-game seasons from the developmental G League Ignite — which is led by Henderson, who is No.2 on most early mock drafts and considered a potential franchise player — as well as the México City Capitanes, which will compete for the first time for an entire season in Mexico. The first G-League game in Mexico City will be at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico when it takes on the defending champion Vipers on Sunday, Nov. 6.
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G League to use Elam ending/target score for OT games this season originally appeared on NBCSports.com
