BASKETBALL IS BACK … almost.
The Chicago Bulls officially revealed their 2022-23 schedule this afternoon, which you can find in its entirety here or in the thread shared below.
As we learned earlier this week, the team will begin their highly-anticipated season on October 19th in Miami. After one more road game against the Washington Wizards, the Bulls will return to the United Center for their home-opener on October 22nd against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Bulls will have quite the taxing start to the season with three back-to-back sets between October 19th and November 2nd. They also face the reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Boston Celtics, twice in their first 10 games.
The hardest stretch of the calendar, however, likely doesn’t come until the end of the year. The Bulls’ will play eight playoff teams from last season over the course of their final 14 regular season games. And several of those other six opponents are expected to re-enter the playoff mix this season, including the Lakers (x2), Clippers, and Trail Blazers.
The good news is that – at first glance – the Bulls’ schedule appears to be far more balanced than what we saw last season. The team will also appear in 14 nationally-televised games, which is two more than they entered last season with.
Seven of those games will be aired on ESPN, while four will appear on NBATV and three on TNT.
Here are the games currently under the spotlight:
Oct. 29th – vs. 76ers (NBA TV)
Nov. 11th – vs. Hornets (ESPN)
Nov. 4th – at Boston (ESPN)
Dec. 12th – at Warriors (ESPN)
Dec. 14th – vs. Knicks (ESPN)
Jan. 6th – at 76ers (ESPN)
Jan. 9th – at Boston (NBATV)
Jan. 19th – at Pistons (NBATV)
Jan. 23rd – at Hawks (NBATV)
Jan. 26th – at Hornets (TNT)
Feb. 09 – at Nets (ESPN)
Feb. 16th – vs. Bucks (TNT)
Feb. 24th – vs. Nets (ESPN)
April 5th – at Bucks (ESPN)
Two last things to consider for now: (1) The Bulls will represent the NBA in Paris on January 19th as they take on the Detroit Pistons. (2) The league has also added a “rivalry week” this season that will take place from January 24th-28th. The NBA shared that the Bulls’ game against Charlotte on January 26th – where Lonzo Ball is expected to play his brother LaMelo Ball – will be part of that event.