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It’s August in the NBA, which means two things: waiting for news to happen, and recklessly predicting what will happen in the future. Today, we get to do both at the same time! At 4pm (Eastern), the league will release the full schedule for the 2018-19 NBA season.
The Milwaukee Bucks will certainly be excited to find out who they’ll play when. Thankfully, one of the major highlights of the schedule has already been “leaked” to the public, with the Bucks and New York Knicks squaring off in Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day.
Looking ahead to Christmas Day in New York: https://t.co/h2xgeaEYvp
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 9, 2018
Between now and 4pm (Eastern), consider this a bonus open thread to hypothesize about how many back-to-backs and extended road trips the Bucks end up with. How many miles are they going to travel on their West Coast road trips? Are there any “schedule losses” in the mix? When do they have to play in Denver? What about when the league’s other stars come to town to (hopefully) lose to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and the rest of the deer we love to fear?
And then after 4pm (Eastern), see where we the Bucks actually end up, and screw it let’s get some season record predictions in there! If the Bucks are gonna win 50+ games, where are those wins going to fall in the schedule?
UPDATE: Here it is!
Pretty enough to be on a fridge magnet! Here's the Bucks' 2018-19 schedule. pic.twitter.com/Bu2tsU6LX4
— Mitchell Maurer (@Mitchell_NBA) August 10, 2018
Some highlights, per the Bucks.com press release:
18 games available on national television
A visit from the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Friday, Dec. 7
A matchup against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday, March 19
Two November home games against the rival Chicago Bulls on Friday, Nov. 16 and Wednesday, Nov. 28
One home game against the Boston Celtics – the Bucks’ 2018 playoff opponent – on Thursday, Feb. 21
A Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee at Fiserv Forum against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, Jan. 21
13 back-to-back sets (3 home-home, 3 home-road, 3 road-home, 4 road-road)
A season-long six-game homestand from Nov. 14-24 and two season-long five-game road trips from Jan. 27-Feb. 4 and from Feb. 25-March 4
What do we think, gang?