11/21/24
October 24, 2016
Enter SportsFilter's Pace Mannion NBA Pick 'Em Contest: For the NBA season that begins Tuesday, SportsFilter is bringing back the Pace Mannion NBA Pick 'Em. Choose the winner and margin for the nationally televised games each week on TNT, ESPN and ABC (around 6-8 games). Last year was won by Howard T, who left the rest of us in the dust. First prize is a $25 NBA Shop gift certificate.
How This WorksSportsFilter is running a season-long NBA Pick 'Em contest and awarding a prize to the season's winner: an NBA Hardwood Classics hat ($30 value).
To play, pick who you think will win and by how many points. You then get points based on the result:
Picked the winner? You get 5 points
Picked the winner and a spread within the margin of error? You get 3 more points
Picked the winner and the exact spread? You get 2 more points
What's the Margin of Error?
A window around the spread that's defined as the following:
spread - round(0.3 * spread) <= Margin of Error <= spread + round(0.3 * spread)
You get rewarded for being close to the spread. The bigger the spread, the bigger the margin of error, so you don't have to be as accurate predicting a blowout as a close game.
Examples:
| Actual Spread | Margin Starts at | Margin Ends at |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | 8 | 14 |
| 20 | 14 | 26 |
| Outcome | Your score |
| Dallas by 20 | 8 points (winner + spread within MoE) |
| Dallas by 10 | 5 points (winner only) |
| Dallas by 15 | 10 points (winner + nailed spread) |
| Miami by 5 | 0 points |
Slam Dunks
You can choose any game as a slam dunk. This doubles the points you win for that game, but if that team doesn't win, you lose 10 points (even if you get the spread). You can make as many picks a slam dunk as you like or pick no dunks at all.
The Small Print
In order to receive the prize, you must respond to our email within 14 days of the winner announcement. Make sure you have a valid email address on SportsFilter or contact me within that time period. The prize does not include international shipping, so in that situation you can pay the cost or receive an equivalent cash prize over Paypal.
Hall of Champions
2015-16: Howard_T
2016-17: Ufez Jones
This Week's Games
New York at Cleveland on TNT (Tuesday)
San Antonio at Golden State on TNT (Tuesday)
Oklahoma City at Philadelphia on ESPN (Wednesday)
Houston at Los Angeles Lakers on ESPN (Wednesday)
Boston at Chicago on TNT (Thursday)
Los Angeles Clippers at Portland on TNT (Thursday)
Cleveland at Toronto on ESPN (Friday)
Golden State at New Orleans on ESPN (Friday)
Teams playing more than once: Cleveland, Golden State.
Picks must be submitted in this discussion before the game's tipoff. So if you miss Tuesday games you can still choose the games for the rest of the week.
posted by rcade to basketball at 09:00 PM - 11 comments
Cleveland by 10 <-- dunk
Golden State by 8
Oklahoma City by 7
Houston by 14 <-- dunk
I also predict record-breaking low ratings for the Cavaliers opener.
I'll pick the other half later. I think the game I'm most looking forward to seeing is the start of the Kobe-less Lakers era.
posted by rcade at 10:16 AM on October 25, 2016
Hooray, the season is back!
Cleveland by 17 (slam)
San Antonio by 4
Oklahoma City by 14 (slam)
Houston by 19 (slam)
Boston by 7
Portland by 8
Cleveland by 9
Golden State by 17 (slam)
Thanks as always, rcade.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:19 AM on October 25, 2016
SLAM Cleveland by 22 SLAM
Golden State by 6
Philadelphia by 3
SLAM Houston by 7 SLAM
Boston by 11
Portland by 4
SLAM Cleveland by 11 SLAM
SLAM Golden State by 16 SLAM
posted by bender at 12:42 PM on October 25, 2016
It's time for the defending champion to see if he can continue the glory. I have a feeling that it won't be easy this year; you guys have been doing your homework. We will see.
Cleveland by 18 SLAM
Golden State by 11 SLAM
Philadelphia by 4
Houston by 9
Boston by 6
Portland by 8
Cleveland by 12
Golden State by 7
posted by Howard_T at 04:06 PM on October 25, 2016
Cleveland by 17 - SLAM
Golden State by 6 - SLAM
Oklahoma City by 14
Houston by 11
Boston by 7
Los Angeles Clippers by 6 - SLAM
Cleveland by 6
Golden State by 14 - SLAM
posted by tron7 at 05:44 PM on October 25, 2016
Cleveland by 14 (slam dunk)
San Antonio by 3
Oklahoma City by 17 (slam dunk)
Houston by 21 (slam dunk)
Boston by 9
Portland by 7
Cleveland by 6
Golden State by 23 (slam dunk)
posted by Goyoucolts at 07:09 PM on October 25, 2016
Cleveland by 18
San Antonio by 5
Oklahoma City by 12
Houston by 7
Chicago by 6
Portland by 6
Cleveland by 5
Golden State by 6
posted by NoMich at 07:37 PM on October 25, 2016
Welcome to our new players and returning ones.
Here's the full NBA TV schedule, which is subject to flex scheduling changes by TV networks at some point in the season.
Posts will go up on Monday or Tuesday mornings. For most weeks this will give players over 24 hours before the first game's tipoff to submit picks.
posted by rcade at 07:59 PM on October 25, 2016
Oh good, already got my yearly reminder that I'm underestimating the Spurs.
posted by tron7 at 09:55 AM on October 26, 2016
Chicago by 6
Portland by 10
Cleveland by 16
Golden State by 10 <-- dunk
posted by rcade at 11:46 AM on October 27, 2016
The rules are the same as this year's NFL Pick 'Em -- unlimited slam dunks.
For those who haven't played before, this is less of a time commitment than the NFL. There are usually 6 games a week, with a few as low as 4 or as high as 10, and they occur mostly from Tuesday to Thursday. The game week runs from Tuesday to Monday.
The game is running on a new web application I'm also using for the NFL. Scoring updates will be much faster.