Bulls schedule 2023-24 set, features OKC home opener, loads of early UC games
The NBA schedule was released Thursday and it includes the league's strange new twist. Here are some highlights of the Bulls' 2023-24 slate:
• The Bulls haven't opened at home with fans in the stands since the 2016-17 season. This year, they'll play the first two games at the United Center, against Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Oct. 25, then Toronto on Friday, Oct. 27. They'll hit the road a day later on Saturday, Oct. 28 for Detroit's home opener.
• The schedule includes just 80 games right now. Two will be added later. The Bulls will either be one of 16 teams to make the playoff round of the new in-season tournament or just have two random regular-season games added to their mix.
The league already announced dates for the in-season tournament pool-play games, as if anybody cares. The Bulls get Brooklyn and Orlando at home, then Toronto and Boston on the road, between Nov. 3 and Nov. 28. Sixteen teams will advance to the playoff round, then four go to Las Vegas for the in-season tourney semis and championship, which won't count in the regular-season standings. It might make sense eventually.
• The Bulls' slate is unusually home-heavy at the start. They'll play 10 of their first 15 at the UC, including consecutive two-game series against Orlando and Miami. Nov. 15-20 will officially be Florida Week on the West Side. And don't forget, only the second game against Wendell Carter Jr., Franz Wagner, Jett Howard and the Magic counts for the in-season tournament.
Then the Bulls get their longest homestand of the season at six games from Dec. 20-30. The opponents include the Lakers, Spurs, Cavs, Hawks, Pacers and 76ers. At that point, the Bulls' home-road split will be 19-13, plus the two games TBA. You read that right. If he's healthy, top draft pick Victor Wembanyama will make his Chicago debut with San Antonio on Thursday, Dec. 21.
• Playing home games early means the Bulls will be on the road late in the season. Their final three games are away from home, at Detroit, Washington and New York. Six of the Bulls' last nine games are on the road.
They have a four-game West Coast trip in early March, featuring Sacramento, Utah, Golden State and the Clippers. They'll go to Phoenix, Lakers and Portland in late January.
• The Bulls were given four national television games, three on ESPN and one on TNT. The TNT game is at Toronto on Jan. 18 (play-in rematch), so the Bulls wont get a chance to start a new TNT home streak this season.
The ESPN games are at New York on Jan. 3, at Cleveland on Feb. 14 and home against Milwaukee on Mar. 1. They have three games earmarked for NBA TV.
• Two games against the defending champion Denver Nuggets happen early in the year. They'll visit Denver on Nov. 4, then host Nikola Jokic's squad on Dec. 12.
• A couple of other quirks in the schedule: The Bulls' final two home games of the regular season are both against former Stevenson High School standout Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, on April 5 and 9, with a trip to Orlando in between. Not only do the Bulls host Miami for a two-game series in November, they play two in a row at Miami on Dec. 14 and 16. So four games against Jimmy Butler and the defending Eastern Conference champs in less than a month.
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