It Doesn't Get Much Stranger Than the Chicago Bulls' Schedule This Week

A mere look at the schedule might exhaust the Chicago Bulls.

This week is about as rough as it gets during the regular season. Monday night's battle with the Los Angeles Lakers tipped off a stretch of five games in seven days. Even more notable, when the Bulls head into Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday night for their third meeting with the Pacers, they will embark on the ever-daunting four games in five days.

To be sure, the schedule wasn't initially this jam-packed. The NBA's postponement of the Bulls' early January meeting with the Miami Heat due to floor conditions threw everything out of whack. They needed to find a time to fit the contest back into the 82-game slate, and this week seemed to fit both teams' remaining schedules the best.

Still, one would think the league would do everything it could to avoid creating such a strenuous stretch. The same sure feels like it can be said about pitting the same teams against each other three games in a row. This is exactly what will happen now that the postponed Bull-Heat match is scheduled for January 29. Chicago and Miami were already set to play in a mini-series to end January. Those two games were supposed to have a break in between, but they will now be held on back-to-back nights.

Here is what the rest of the week will look like:

January 28 – @ IND
January 29 – vs. MIA
January 30 – Off Day
January 31 – @ MIA
February 1 – @ MIA

So not only does it feel bizarre to see two consecutive back-to-back sets, but the three-straight against Miami is legitimately unprecedented. The Chicago Bulls have never played the same team this many times in a row in regular season history (h/t CHSN).

Josh Giddey of the Chicago Bulls — Nov 21, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (45) drives to the basket against Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Of course, what makes the situation stand out that much more is the recent history between these two squads. They have faced off in the Play-In Tournament in back-to-back-to-back seasons. Erik Spoelstra's squad has walked away victorious and ended the Bulls' season in every matchup. In 2024-25, they completely embarrassed the Bulls to the tune of a 109-90 final score at the United Center. They followed this up with an even more dominant performance in their first regular season game of 2025-26, winning 143-107.

The two teams are, once again, swimming in the same Play-In water as they look toward this three-game series. Miami holds a record of 25-22, while the Bulls are 1.5 games behind at 23-23. All things considered, that means this unexpected series could go a long way in deciding where each finishes in the final standings, assuming they both make a fourth-straight push for the postseason.

Speaking of which, whether or not the Bulls will do that remains to be seen. There has been A LOT of talk about a trade deadline sell-off, but their recent winning ways have seemingly made the front office think otherwise (déjà vu, anyone?). With that in mind, it sure feels like the next four games will go a long way toward deciding what the second half of this season will look like. Will the Bulls finally show some fight against Miami and convince the front office to stay the course, or will familiar results finally lead to significant change?