Chicago Bulls 2025-26 schedule by the numbers, from NBA Cup games to back-to-backs
The Bulls will open Oct. 22 at home against the Detroit Pistons, followed by a road game against the Orlando Magic on Oct. 25. They finish the regular season April 12 in Dallas against the Mavericks.
Here's a by-the-numbers guide to the schedule.
The Bulls will play four games in the group stage of the 2025 NBA Cup. These games will count both toward the regular-season record in addition to determining which teams advance to the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament.
As part of East Group C, the Bulls will face the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets in the group stage. They will play host to the Knicks on Oct. 31 and Heat on Nov. 21 and travel to the Bucks on Nov. 7 and Hornets on Nov. 28.
The winners of each group — in addition to two wild-card teams — will advance to the knockout round. Higher-seeded teams will host quarterfinal games, while the semifinals and championship game will be held Dec. 12-14 in Las Vegas.
The Bulls did not advance out of the group stage of the NBA Cup in the first two iterations of the tournament. If they do not advance again this season, they will play two additional regular-season games on Dec. 11 or Dec. 12 and Dec. 14 or Dec. 15.
Only three Bulls games will be nationally televised — and only one of those games will be available on cable.
The Dec. 1 game against the Magic will be available on Peacock, and the Feb. 5 game against the Toronto Raptors will be available on Amazon Prime. The Jan. 16 game against the Brooklyn Nets will be the lone ESPN broadcast of the season. All three games are on the road.
The remaining 79 games will be available exclusively on CHSN, which will not be provided free over the air this year. CHSN is available through Comcast and DirecTV in addition to a direct-to-consumer app.
The Bulls will not play a single game on any of the major holidays the NBA is attempting to make centerpieces of the league calendar — Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The sole holiday fixture for the Bulls will take place on New Year's Eve with a home game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Bulls will play 13 back-to-backs, including a pair of home games Nov. 21-22 against the Heat and Washington Wizards. Only two of the back-to-backs feature home and away games.
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