First off, you have to realize that breaks, and not total minutes, are what's important throughout the course of a game.
A player playing 36 minutes in a row, will be much more tired than a player playing 36 minutes with 3 4 minute breaks.
Ok, the idea here was this...
Q1: 3-4 mins
Q2: 3-4 mins
Q3: 4-5 mins
Q4: 12 mins
OT: the full 5 mins per OT
So for a normal game, that's 22 to 25 minutes per game. So in effect, it includes breaks, up until Q4 where there are no breaks. What this does is make the following day, a near full recovery, see stem cells finding their target tissues for repair/regeneration. At 36-40 mins, the recovery time increases and for Pierce, that means less bounce, in followup contests. My regimen almost guarantees a consistent Mr Fourth Quarter.
And I will compromise, Daniels can start in place of 'Sheed at the 3.