Bulls Insider

Chicago Bulls' 2023-24 schedule is out and it features these 7 important games

Home opener vs. Oklahoma City begins tests for franchise with playoff aspirations

Share
Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls have playoff aspirations and now know their path.

Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich

Every year, the NBA schedule comes out and---shocker alert---it contains 41 road and 41 home games for all 30 teams.

And yet it’s studied like some ancient scroll, parsed for sleights---12 back-to-backs and that team has 11!---and favorable stretches.

Even though the Chicago Bulls’ schedule, released Thursday, only contains 80 games---40 road and 40 home---because two will be finalized depending on the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament results, who are we to disrupt history?

Here are the seven most important games from the Bulls’ regular-season schedule:

Oct. 25 vs. Oklahoma City

The opener always gets first nod. It’s a first real chance to look at the work management has done over the offseason.

Who will start at point guard between Jevon Carter, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu or Alex Caruso? Who will start at power forward between Patrick Williams, Torrey Craig and Caruso? And while those questions likely will have been answered throughout training camp---and, as an aside, the fact Caruso is mentioned at these two positions is wild---it’s still going to be a raucous atmosphere at United Center.

That it comes against an up-and-coming Oklahoma City team with Chet Holmgren expected to make his NBA regular-season debut after missing his rookie season to injury and with a star-on-the-rise coach in Mark Daigneault who trained under Billy Donovan makes it all the more intriguing.

Nov. 4 at Denver

This game stands out not only because it’s against the defending NBA champions and Artūras Karnišovas’ former team. But it certainly could qualify as one of those “tough schedule” games---the second of a home-and-away back-to-back played at altitude and in a location that’s typically part of a multi-game road trip.

So are the Bulls going to fold or show fortitude? This game could be a sneak preview of this team’s collective mental toughness.

Let’s also not forget that Nikola Vučević dominated Nikola Jokić in one of the Bulls’ best games from last season, a 117-96 road victory in which Vučević posted 25 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.

Nov. 18 vs. Miami

The NBA began this practice a couple seasons ago, scheduling two straight games in the same city in a series that has some playoff vibes to it. Last season, the New York Knicks and old friends Tom Thibodeau and Derrick Rose visited.

This season, it’s old friend Jimmy Butler and the defending Eastern Conference champion Heat, whom the Bulls had on the ropes in a play-in game before Miami rallied and advanced all the way to the NBA Finals.

With the second straight home game scheduled for Nov. 20, these two-game series typically feature multiple coaching adjustments. That gives Donovan and his staff and the opportunity to face off against Erik Spoelstra and his. Spoelstra is widely considered one of the league’s elite coaches.

And the fact this two-game set is reprised in Miami on Dec. 14-16 makes the season series even more intriguing.

Dec. 20 vs. Lakers

Not only is LeBron James in the house, but this begins a season-high, six-game homestand and a high-profile set of back-to-back games that brings hyped rookie Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs to town the following night.

Two of the six games are against Central Division rivals. And it concludes against a Philadelphia 76ers team that may or may not feature James Harden but will feature Joel Embiid.

A victory against a revamped Lakers team that added Gabe Vincent to James, Anthony Davis, DeAngelo Russell and Austin Reaves could kick-start a stretch where the Bulls are home for the holidays.

Jan. 22, 2024 at Suns

This matchup begins a three-game trip that includes the Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers, who may or may not employ Damian Lillard at that time but will feature hyped rookie Scoot Henderson.

It’s the second opportunity for Torrey Craig to face the team for which he started 60 games and played in 79 last season. But by this time, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker should have more chemistry than in their November 2023 trip to the United Center.

This will be a tough test.

March 23, 2024 vs. Celtics

The Bulls open the season’s stretch run with a three-game homestand against one of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams.

The Bulls finished 2-2 last season against the Celtics, who traded Marcus Smart and Grant Williams while adding Kristaps Porzingis.

April 12, 2024 at Wizards

The opponent isn’t flashy. But this is the Bulls’ next-to-last game of the season and concludes the final of their 14 sets of back-to-back games. It comes as part of a three-game trip that opens the previous night against the Detroit Pistons.

Winning both those road games against rebuilding teams could be crucial for playoff seeding, particularly since the last game of the season is a tough test at Madison Square Garden against Jalen Brunson, Thibodeau and company two days later.

Click here to follow the Bulls Talk Podcast.

Contact Us