With the NBA Draft, free agency and Summer League behind us, it's full speed ahead toward the start of training camps and the 2021-22 regular season.
For the Chicago Bulls, that campaign will be an important one.
After going all-in to acquire DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, expectations are high for this year's Bulls team. So, too, is excitement, given those players' fit alongside an already-intriguing core headlined by Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević.
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How that group will fare is unknown. But what no longer isn't is their 2021-22 regular-season schedule, which the NBA released Friday afternoon.
Here it is, in full:
| Day | Date | Opponent | Time (CT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed. | 20-Oct-21 | at Detroit | 6:00 PM |
| Fri. | 22-Oct-21 | New Orleans | 7:00 PM |
| Sat. | 23-Oct-21 | Detroit | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 25-Oct-21 | at Toronto | 6:30 PM |
| Thu. | 28-Oct-21 | New York | 7:00 PM |
| Sat. | 30-Oct-21 | Utah | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 1-Nov-21 | at Boston | 6:30 PM |
| Wed. | 3-Nov-21 | at Philadelphia | 6:00 PM |
| Sat. | 6-Nov-21 | Philadelphia | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 8-Nov-21 | Brooklyn | 7:00 PM |
| Wed. | 10-Nov-21 | Dallas | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 12-Nov-21 | at Golden State* | 9:00 PM |
| Sun. | 14-Nov-21 | at LA Clippers | 8:30 PM |
| Mon. | 15-Nov-21 | at LA Lakers | 9:30 PM |
| Wed. | 17-Nov-21 | at Portland | 9:00 PM |
| Fri. | 19-Nov-21 | at Denver | 8:00 PM |
| Sun. | 21-Nov-21 | New York | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 22-Nov-21 | Indiana | 7:00 PM |
| Wed. | 24-Nov-21 | at Houston | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 26-Nov-21 | at Orlando | 6:00 PM |
| Sat. | 27-Nov-21 | Miami | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 29-Nov-21 | Charlotte | 7:00 PM |
| Thu. | 2-Dec-21 | at New York | 6:30 PM |
| Sat. | 4-Dec-21 | at Brooklyn | 6:30 PM |
| Mon. | 6-Dec-21 | Denver | 7:00 PM |
| Wed. | 8-Dec-21 | at Cleveland | 6:00 PM |
| Sat. | 11-Dec-21 | at Miami | 7:00 PM |
| Tue. | 14-Dec-21 | Detroit | 7:00 PM |
| Thu. | 16-Dec-21 | at Toronto | 6:30 PM |
| Sun. | 19-Dec-21 | LA Lakers | 2:30 PM |
| Mon. | 20-Dec-21 | Houston | 7:00 PM |
| Wed. | 22-Dec-21 | Toronto | 7:00 PM |
| Sun. | 26-Dec-21 | Indiana | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 27-Dec-21 | at Atlanta | 6:30 PM |
| Wed. | 29-Dec-21 | Atlanta | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 31-Dec-21 | at Indiana | 2:00 PM |
| Sat. | 1-Jan-22 | at Washington | 6:00 PM |
| Mon. | 3-Jan-22 | Orlando | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 7-Jan-22 | Washington | 7:00 PM |
| Sun. | 9-Jan-22 | at Dallas | 6:30 PM |
| Wed. | 12-Jan-22 | Brooklyn* | 9:00 PM |
| Fri. | 14-Jan-22 | Golden State | 7:00 PM |
| Sat. | 15-Jan-22 | at Boston | 7:30 PM |
| Mon. | 17-Jan-22 | at Memphis* | 2:30 PM |
| Wed. | 19-Jan-22 | Cleveland | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 21-Jan-22 | at Milwaukee | 7:00 PM |
| Sun. | 23-Jan-22 | at Orlando | 5:00 PM |
| Mon | 24-Jan-22 | at Atlanta | 6:30 PM |
| Wed. | 26-Jan-22 | at Oklahoma City | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 28-Jan-22 | at San Antonio | 7:30 PM |
| Sun. | 30-Jan-22 | Portland | 2:30 PM |
| Tue. | 1-Feb-22 | Orlando | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 4-Feb-22 | at Indiana | 6:00 PM |
| Sun. | 6-Feb-22 | Philadelphia | 2:30 PM |
| Mon. | 7-Feb-22 | Phoenix | 7:00 PM |
| Wed. | 9-Feb-22 | at Charlotte | 6:30 PM |
| Fri. | 11-Feb-22 | Minnesota | 7:00 PM |
| Sat. | 12-Feb-22 | Oklahoma City | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 14-Feb-22 | San Antonio | 7:00 PM |
| Wed. | 16-Feb-22 | Sacramento | 7:00 PM |
| Thu. | 24-Feb-22 | Atlanta | 7:00 PM |
| Sat. | 26-Feb-22 | Memphis | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 28-Feb-22 | at Miami | 6:30 PM |
| Fri. | 4-Mar-22 | Milwaukee | 6:30 PM |
| Mon | 7-Mar-22 | at Philadelphia | 6:00 PM |
| Wed. | 9-Mar-22 | at Detroit | 6:00 PM |
| Sat. | 12-Mar-22 | Cleveland | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 14-Mar-22 | at Sacramento | 9:00 PM |
| Wed. | 16-Mar-22 | at Utah | 9:00 PM |
| Fri. | 18-Mar-22 | at Phoenix | 9:00 PM |
| Mon. | 21-Mar-22 | Toronto | 7:00 PM |
| Tue. | 22-Mar-22 | at Milwaukee | 7:00 PM |
| Thu. | 24-Mar-22 | at New Orleans | 7:00 PM |
| Sat. | 26-Mar-22 | at Cleveland | 7:00 PM |
| Mon. | 28-Mar-22 | at New York | 6:30 PM |
| Tue | 29-Mar-22 | at Washington | 6:00 PM |
| Thu. | 31-Mar-22 | LA Clippers | 7:00 PM |
| Sat. | 2-Apr-22 | Miami | 7:00 PM |
| Tue. | 5-Apr-22 | Milwaukee | 7:00 PM |
| Wed. | 6-Apr-22 | Boston | 7:00 PM |
| Fri. | 8-Apr-22 | Charlotte | 7:00 PM |
| Sun. | 10-Apr-22 | at Minnesota | TBD |
*Not on NBC Sports Chicago
NBA
The NBA's regular season is returning to its normal scheduling track after abridged campaigns in 2019-20 (which was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2020-21 (which started and ended late, and consisted of 72 games because of the previous season's irregular nature).
The stakes, though, are the same as last year. The top six seeds in each conference earn automatic playoff bids, while seeds 7-10 will compete in a play-in tournament to decide each conference's final two seeds.
Despite a sizable trade-deadline investment in pushing for a playoff spot, the 2020-21 Bulls finished 31-41 and 11th in the East, one spot short of the play-in. The franchise enters this year with the third-longest active playoff drought in the NBA (four seasons).
Training camps begin Sept. 28. The Bulls' four-game preseason schedule starts Oct. 5. And after the season begins, key dates include the All-Star break (Feb. 18-20, 2022), play-in tourney (April 12-15) and the start of the postseason (April 16).