NBA Pools for 2026-27 — free for friends
The NBA plays almost every night from late October to mid-April, which makes it a great league to follow with friends and an awkward one to run a pool on by hand. Sportpoolz handles the schedule, the scoring and the standings, so your group just makes picks. It is free, and no money changes hands.
Free forever — no credit card, no money changing hands.
How NBA pools work on Sportpoolz
A regular season is about 1,230 games — two to fifteen a night and around fifty a week. Rather than ask anyone to pick all of them, NBA pools score in Monday–Sunday weeks and lay each week's games out day by day, so you pick a night's games when that night comes round. Every game locks at its own tip-off.
For pick'em and against-the-spread pools, the week's games are the ones on national TV: about ten in a normal week, the matchups most of your group will actually be watching.
- Pick'em, against the spread (Beat the Spread on Sportpoolz), confidence and survivor: season-long pools on the weekly games.
- NBA Cup pick'em: the Cup's games only, from group play to the final.
- Playoff bracket: the 16-team postseason, called series by series.
- Wins pool: divide the teams before the 2027-28 season and count their wins.
- Challenges: call a single game against a friend, no pool needed.
Each format's own page has its rules and the date it opens.
Choices you make when you start a pool
The format is the one decision you cannot undo, so settle it with your group first. After that, the manager chooses which weeks the pool covers — from opening week or from any week later in the season — how many members it takes, between 2 and 30, and how the week's winners and the season's champion are recognised.
Key dates for the 2026-27 season
- First Monday–Sunday week: October 19–25, 2026
- Opening night: Tuesday, October 20, 2026
- NBA Cup group play: October 30 – November 27, 2026
- NBA Cup final, in Indianapolis: Friday, December 11, 2026
- Christmas Day, five games: Friday, December 25, 2026
- All-Star break: February 19–21, 2027
- Regular season ends: Sunday, April 11, 2027
- Play-in games: April 13–16, 2027
- Playoffs begin: Saturday, April 17, 2027
A sample season with one group
- 1 Opening week: you start an NBA pick'em pool and share the link in the group chat. Eight friends join before Tuesday's tip-off.
- 2 Late October: two latecomers join a separate NBA survivor pool that starts with the next Monday–Sunday week, so they are not behind anyone.
- 3 Through the winter: each week's national-TV games appear on the picks page, results grade themselves, and the standings move after every final buzzer.
- 4 Mid-April: the regular season ends, and the member with the most correct picks is the pick'em pool's champion.
Common questions
Which NBA pool format suits a casual group?
Pick'em. It asks for a winner in each of the week's national-TV games, with no line to learn and nobody knocked out. Survivor is the better pick for a group that wants one decision a week and a lot of suspense.
Can I run an NBA pool and an NFL pool at the same time?
Yes. Each pool is its own league and format, and one account can belong to as many as you like, each with its own picks and standings.
Be ready the day it opens
Sportpoolz is free. Create your account now, and starting your pool takes a couple of minutes once it opens.