garbage time

noun

US, sports

: the final moments or minutes of a game in which one side has an insurmountable lead, substitutes often enter the game in place of starting players, and scoring is typically easier because of looser defensive play

… the forgotten foursome of Greg Kite, Fred Roberts, Sam Vicent and Conner Henry will be on call in case of extreme emergency and those meaningless minutes appropriately referred to as garbage time.—

Gerry Finn

One touchdown was all the Broncos' D allowed, and that came in garbage time.—

Paul Zimmerman

Examples of garbage time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Key stat The Pistons made 13 of their first 19 shots in the fourth quarter (68.4%) before missing twice in garbage time. —

Dave Hogg, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2025 This prompted Bronny, the 55th pick of last year's NBA Draft, to get some minutes in garbage time. —

Ryan Morik, Fox News, 31 Jan. 2025 Buried behind Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard on Boston’s backcourt depth chart, Davison has seen action in just five games for the Celtics this season, playing only in garbage time and totaling six points, one assist and six turnovers. —

Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 28 Jan. 2025 His most recent appearance came in garbage time during Orlando’s third game of the season at Memphis. —

Jason Beede, Orlando Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for garbage time