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The 2024-25 NBA schedules have been announced, and the Chicago Bulls social media team pushed a fun animation to drum up the excitement.
Here’s a look at the entire 80-game schedule. Two more games will be added between December 8 and 19 depending on which teams advance to the latter stages of the NBA Cup Tournament.
It’s fun to stir up excitement during the dead of the NBA calendar, but in the end, every team is slated for 82 games, with half being at home and half on the road. They’ll play each Western Conference team twice and each Eastern Conference team at least three times.
Still, there are some exciting storylines to uncover, interesting stats to dig through and predictions to make on all of it.
Notable games
- Bulls start the season on the road for two games against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 23 and the Milwaukee Bucks on October 25
- Alex Caruso returns to the United Center for the Bulls home opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 26
- Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs come to Chicago on January 6
- DeMar DeRozan makes his return to Chicago on January 12 as the Bulls host the Sacramento Kings
- The reigning MVP Nikola Jokic will be at the United Center on January 27
- Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors come to town on February 8
- LeBron James arrives on March 27
The Bulls play on National TV five times this season with two being broadcast on ESPN and three on NBA TV.
- November 7 vs. Minnesota (NBA TV)
- November 20 at Milwaukee (ESPN)
- November 23 vs. Memphis (NBA TV)
- January 17 vs. Charlotte (ESPN)
- April 6 vs. Charlotte (NBA TV)
The Bulls longest homestand is five games:
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- January 10: Washington Wizards
- January 12: Sacramento Kings
- January 14: New Orleans Pelicans
- January 15: Atlanta Hawks
- January 17: Charlotte Hornets
Their longest road trip is six games:
- March 15: Houston Rockets
- March 17: Utah Jazz
- March 19: Phoenix Suns
- March 20: Sacramento Kings
- March 22: Los Angeles Lakers
- March 24: Denver Nuggets
NBA Cup Games
- November 15 at Cleveland
- November 22 vs. Atlanta
- November 26 at Washington
- November 29 vs. Boston
Breakdown by month
October
- Away games: 3
- Home games: 2
- Back-to-backs: 1
- Strength of Schedule: .634
November
- Away games: 9
- Home games: 7
- Back-to-backs: 4
- Strength of Schedule: .524
December
- Away games: 4
- Home games: 6
- Back-to-backs: 1
- Strength of Schedule: .522
January
- Away games: 7
- Home games: 9
- Back-to-backs: 1
- Strength of Schedule: .458
February
- Away games: 4
- Home games: 7
- Back-to-backs: 2
- Strength of Schedule: .467
March
- Away games: 10
- Home games: 5
- Back-to-backs: 2
- Strength of Schedule: .570
April
- Away games: 3
- Home games: 4
- Back-to-backs: 1
- Strength of Schedule: .440
Other Key Dates:
- NBA Cup Championship: December 17, 2024
- NBA Trade Deadline: February 6, 2025
- NBA All-Star Weekend: February 14-16, 2025
- NBA Play-In Tournament: April 15-18
- NBA Playoffs begin: April 19
Schedule intricacies courtesy of Positive Residual
The average win percentage of the Bulls opponents this year is .511. This number will change as teams win and lose games, but for now, the Bulls have the 13th toughest Strength of Schedule in the league.
Positive Residual Vegas-informed Estimate of Team Strength (VETS) team rating system ranks the Bulls the fifth worst team the NBA.
The Bulls play in only 13 back-to-backs, which is less than the average of 14.9 back-to-backs.
The Bulls play 13 games with a rest advantage compared to their opponents, tied for third most. They play only nine games with rest disadvantages, tied for fourth fewest. Their net +4 difference ties the Golden State Warriors for the highest in the league.
Vegas Lines
Most books set the Bulls win total line at 30.5, but those numbers have since fallen. According to VegasInsider.com, Fanduel and MGM have the Bulls at 27.5, while Caesars has them at 28.5.
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That projects the Bulls to have the fifth worst record in the NBA and 13th in the Eastern Conference. That’s bad enough to put the Bulls in prime positive to retain the top-10 protected pick they owe the San Antonio Spurs in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Predictions:
We went through the schedule game-by-game on the CHGO Bulls Podcast and picked win or loss for each game. Here’s where we had the Bulls ending up:
Matt: 26-54
Will: 26-54
Big Dave: 28-52
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