The NBA is scheduled to officially release the entire 82-game schedule tomorrow at 6PM ET. However, plenty of games have been leaked already, most notably teams’ opening games and Christmas Day games. Just a day after the Oklahoma City Thunder were found to be playing the San Antonio Spurs to open the season, another great matchup will kick off the 2015-16 NBA season. The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to the United Center in Chicago to face off against the Chicago Bulls on October 27th. The slated matchup was first reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
NBA reportedly making schedule official Wednesday but version circulated to teams has Bulls opening vs. Cavaliers at United Center on 10/27.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) August 11, 2015
Both games that are expected to open the season now are showdowns between power houses in their respective conferences. Oklahoma City versus San Antonio should be an exciting matchup between two new-look squads poised to make runs to the top of the Western Conference totem pole. Cleveland versus Chicago is also expected to be a goliath contest between two of the heavy weights in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers knocked out the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year and many expect them to face off again in the playoffs this year in a bigger stage AKA the Conference Finals.
Both squads have about remained the same talent-wise. The Bulls did lock up Jimmy Butler for the foreseeable future and drafting Bobby Portis looks like a steal already. The Cavs have made minor improvements to their bench such as the addition of Richard Jefferson. Cleveland’s offseason looks far from over however as rumors have surfaced about free agent Tristan Thompson requesting a maximum contract and Jamal Crawford wanting to play for them. Whichever way this offseason comes to a close, we can expect this rivalry to be more than renewed when both teams get together and open their season in the “Mad House on Madison” come October 27th.
