Rules

The picks

Create a private match with friends or join a public match. Pick Over or Under for all 30 teams using the line set chosen by the creator. Rankings live inside each match, not in a global league. Personal picks and scores are separate. The creator can also add the published expert sheets (Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, Joe House, the No Dunks crew, The Residual Model) to any match as display-only opponents; experts always play on their preseason lines and never count toward the player limit.

Locks

Personal entries and group matches use 6 locks: 3 East and 3 West. Head-to-head creators choose the lock count; the default is 6. Lock counts are even numbers only, so locks always split equally between East and West. Beat the Experts uses 6 for all players. Joe House alone keeps his five published locks.

Live "on pace" score

During the season, each team's projected wins = current win % × 82. A pick is on track when the pace is on your side of the line, and missing when it isn't. Your live score uses the same points as the final scoring. Teams with no games played don't count yet. If a team's pace lands exactly on a whole-number line, that pick is a push: 0 points, neither on track nor missing, even for locks.

Final picks

Picks can't be changed after you submit. The season has already started, so entries run on the honor system: enter the picks you made before opening night. Match picks permanently use the match’s line set; personal entries keep their own chosen saved set. Beat the Experts players choose Preseason lines or the current line set when joining, and each submitted sheet keeps its chosen set. Open matches stay joinable until their creator closes them or a head-to-head fills. Beat the Experts is public and open all season.

Daily points

Daily Picks lives on its own page, with that day's NBA games in US Eastern time. Pick winners once, choosing up to 3 games per US Eastern night. Picks save when tapped; skipped games score 0 and don't count against you. Picks lock at each game's tip-off. Each correct winner earns 1 point. Pick up to 3 games a night. Get all 3 right for the Perfect Night bonus (+3). If the night has only 1 or 2 games, pick every game correctly to earn the same +3 bonus. Picking 1 or 2 on a larger night is allowed, but earns no bonus. Daily Picks and Over/Under are scored separately by default. Normal match standings use only your Over/Under sheet; Daily Picks never adds points to them. The Daily Picks board ranks winner points for This Week (Monday through Sunday, resetting at midnight Monday US Eastern) and the Season. It shows nights played and perfect nights too; My History shows your recent results. This board is only for Daily Picks, not the season Over/Under game. Each morning your season sheet banks pace points too: 1 per on-track pick and 2 per on-track lock, up to 12 per day. Visiting your match page or making a pick keeps your check-in streak alive and earns badges like 7-Day Streak, Perfect Night and Hot Locks. A normal match's weekly board counts only Pace Points and resets every Monday at midnight US Eastern. Most points wins the week; weekly titles accumulate all season.

At setup, a creator may turn on Combined league. That league's season standings show Over/Under points + Daily Picks points = Total, and its weekly board counts Pace Points + Daily Picks. Daily Picks points count from the day you join that league, not before. The choice stays fixed, is off by default, and every existing match stays separate. Beat the Experts stays Over/Under only. The Daily Picks board is unchanged either way.

Awards

One entry per player: pick the winner of all 6 regular season awards (MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year). The official deadline is November 15, 2026 (end of day, US Eastern). Entries submitted by then are official. Later entries are still accepted, but are marked Unofficial and excluded from the official competition and standings; they are scored for fun in a separate section. All picks are final on submit and remain locked and visible. Each correct winner earns 3 points (max 18). Scores are settled when the official winners are announced. Awards points are separate from matches and Daily Picks.

Expert picks on the Awards leaderboard are the published 2026-27 awards predictions of Chris Mannix, Liam McKeone, Blake Silverman, and Tom Dierberger of Sports Illustrated (October 20, 2026) and Skeets, Tas Melas, and Trey Kirby of the No Dunks podcast (October 14, 2026), shown for fun. This game is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sports Illustrated, No Dunks, or these writers and hosts.

Playoffs

Coming soon: the Playoff Bracket Challenge opens when the bracket is set after the play-in tournament in April 2027. Before Round 1 you pick the winner of every series. Scoring: 1 point per correct Round 1 series, 2 in the conference semifinals, 4 in the conference finals, 8 for the Finals, plus 3 for the Finals MVP (max 35).