NBA reworks Bulls schedule to fit in three postponed games
The NBA announced schedule adjustments for the Bulls on Monday, which included new dates for the three games postponed by health and safety protocols, plus changes to two other road games.
The first rescheduled date arrives quickly, with the Pistons visiting the United Center on Tuesday, Jan. 11. That's one day before the Brooklyn Nets come to town, possibly with Kyrie Irving in tow.
The Bulls will host Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 26, a date which had been in the middle of a five-game road trip. The Bulls were supposed to play a back-to-back in Orlando and Atlanta on Jan. 23 and 24. Now it's a back-to-back in Orlando and Oklahoma City, while the trip to Atlanta was rescheduled for March 3.
Now the Bulls will return home on Jan. 26 to play the Raptors, then go back out to San Antonio on Jan. 28 for what was originally the final game of the road trip.
The game at Toronto is now rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 3, the day before a trip to Indiana. The new Atlanta date also creates a back-to-back with Milwaukee at home on March 4.
"We really are going to be up against it in terms of how compacted the games are going to be," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "It's just the way it is, we've got to get these games in. It's probably not ideal. Going into Christmas, with the cancellation of that Toronto game, gave us a pretty long, extensive break.
"But you realize at some point you're going to have to make up for that. This month once we get through (Monday's) game and have these three days (off), it's going to be a lot. I think there's one point where it's like six games in nine days. Those are hard things, but other teams are going to be doing the same thing."
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