January and February
The midseason portion of the schedule definitely lightens up here for the Bulls, but they still suffer from the fact that more teams than ever are attempting to remain competitive and make a playoff push. For that reason, Chicago won’t be able to enter any game expecting an easy win and will have to fight to retain their top-five position in the Eastern Conference.
- Must-watch game: Bulls @ Hornets, January 26
In one of the NBA’s more recent attempts to modernize the game and introduce new concepts, the Chicago Bulls are one of the teams that have been selected to participate in Rival’s Week. The NBA has often been criticized for not having the longstanding rivalries that we see persist through the decades like the NFL and MLB have, largely due to the fact that divisional rivalries mean nothing in basketball. This seems to be an effort to correct that issue, and whether or not you agree if the Hornets really deserve to be called Chicago’s “rivals”, this should at the very least be an entertaining game to tune into.
- Most difficult game: Bulls vs. Bucks, February 16
The pressure will absolutely be on Chicago when they host the Bucks on February 16 on national television for everyone to see. After being thoroughly dismissed in five games by Milwaukee in last year’s playoffs, this will be the Bulls’ best opportunity to prove incremental changes and an offseason of continuity were in fact enough to make this team a contender after all.
- Must-win game: Bulls @ Pistons, January 19
Considering the fact that the Bulls are tied for having the most back-to-back games in the league, they’ll have to make the most of any extended rest they can get. They’ll get three days of rest here before taking the short trip over to Detroit. The Pistons look to be one of the NBA’s up-and-coming teams, and a heated contest here could hopefully help reignite one of the league’s most historic rivalries just one week before “Rival’s Week”.
If Chicago can successfully escape the difficult early schedule with a solid record, they have a real chance to run up their record here and jump a few spots in the standings. Even if I’m being modest in my predictions, it’s easy to envision a healthy Bulls team posting a 16-10 record (or better) during this span.