To set up a free NBA prediction pool with friends: create a league on a platform that scores it automatically, decide how many of the 82 games per team your group will predict, set the scoring (usually 3 points for the exact score and 2 for picking just the winner), and invite your people with a link. The whole process takes under five minutes.
Unlike a football league with 34-38 matchdays, the NBA plays 82 games per team between October and April, almost one every two days. Nobody follows that in full detail, so the first step is narrowing it down: it can be the whole NBA without covering every single game, just one conference, or simply the group's favorite teams plus the week's big matchups.
Not every group wants the same thing. Here are the most common ways to set up an NBA pool:
The whole group doesn't need to follow the same number of games: everyone predicts whichever ones interest them out of what's available, so the approach can coexist within the same league.
The simplest formula, and the one Match Prophets uses by default, awards points based on how precise the prediction is:
Just like in a football pool, the prediction locks the moment the game kicks off, so there's no room to change it mid-game.
Create a free account, set up the league by selecting the NBA among its competitions, and decide whether it's public or private with an invite link.
Match Prophets lets you combine the NBA with any of the 9 available football leagues within the same league, with a combined standings table.
With such a long season, the play-in and playoffs (best-of-7 in every round) are when the pool gets the most addictive: every game matters much more than in the regular season. If the group cools off in January or February, reminding everyone the play-in is coming usually gets participation going again.