Bernie Sanders used his last debate before the Iowa caucuses to add more nuance to his criticisms of Hillary Clinton’s relationship with Wall Street, though he was on the defensive on gun control and his call to raise taxes to pay for his new health plan.

While the Vermont senator led the debate in speaking time for most of the night, Clinton caught up near the end, finishing just 30 seconds behind him. Sanders spoke for 28 minutes and 7 seconds, while Clinton spoke for 27 minutes and 35 seconds. Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell, the NBC moderators, made a point of keeping the back-and-forth between Clinton and Sanders balanced — unlike in the December debate, when she outspoke him by 10 minutes.

NBC also took longer commercial breaks than ABC did in December, leading to less speaking time for all the candidates; at one point, the moderators even cut to "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd for an intermission of sorts.

By the finish, Martin O’Malley had barely registered a presence on stage, speaking for half as much time as Sanders or Clinton. Near the end, he made a wry pitch for sympathy from viewers, indicating that he needed another 20 minutes to get through his talking points.

Here's the breakdown of speaking times: