INQUIRER Sports

NEW YORK ? National Basketball Association owners approved the expanded use of video replays on Friday by referees in games starting this season to make calls involving shot clocks and out-of-bounds plays.

Referees will be allowed to view replays to see if the 24-second shot clock had expired before a foul or a successful shot.

Officials will also be allowed to consult video during the final two minutes of regulation time or overtime periods to determine which player last touched the ball before it went out of bounds.

The measures take effect with the upcoming NBA season that opens October 27.

Pre-season games have started with replacement officials being used in place of those who were locked out by the league in a labor dispute with regular referees.