The Milwaukee Bucks’ schedule is officially out, as the team and the league as a whole have released the entire slate of games for the 2025-26 NBA Season. We already knew ahead of time that the Bucks wouldn’t be playing on opening night or Christmas Day, thanks to ESPN’s Shams Charania (later confirmed by the league), and that they had a game against the Atlanta Hawks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but now we know when all 82 games of the Bucks season will happen. Here are the highlights:
Opening Night
It will be a potentially emotional opening night for the Bucks, as for the first time since he was traded last season, Khris Middleton will be coming to Fiserv Forum with the Washington Wizards. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, October 22, at 7:00 p.m. CST. Their next four games are split between the road and at home, as they’ll travel to Toronto to play the Raptors on the 24th (6:30 p.m. Central) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (5:00 p.m. Central) on the 26th. They’ll return to Milwaukee for two more games to play the New York Knicks on the 28th at 7:00 p.m., and then the Golden State Warriors on the 30th at 7:00 p.m. That game against the Knicks will be broadcast on NBC, with the NBA switching to NBC and Amazon Prime after their contract with TNT fell through.
Myles Turner Returns Home
In the most shocking move of the off-season, Myles Turner signed with the Milwaukee Bucks after Damian Lillard’s contract was stretched and waived to make salary cap space for the move. Turner has seemingly gotten a lot of flak from Pacers fans and players for the move, and he won’t have to wait long to see them again. After the calendar flips to November and they play the Sacramento Kings on the 1st, the Bucks will travel to Indianapolis to play the Pacers on Nov. 3 at 6:00 p.m. CST. The Bucks then play the Pacers again on the road on Dec. 23, before playing the Pacers at Fiserv Forum on February 6th and March 15th (for the second year in a row).
Repeat for the Cup
The Bucks will start their Emirates NBA Cup title defense on Friday, November 7, at 7:00 p.m. at home against the Chicago Bulls. If you missed it, the Bucks will be part of Group C in the East, with the Bulls, Knicks, Miami Heat, and Charlotte Hornets joining them. Their second game of the In-Season Tournament will be one week later against the Hornets at home on Nov. 14. Their two road games of their NBA Cup group play will probably be the more difficult of the two, as they will travel to Miami to play the Heat the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 26) and then the Knicks at Madison Sqaure Garden on Black Friday (their first on Amazon Prime).
If the Bucks make the knockout stage of the tournament, the first date for that would be Dec. 9th or 10th. If they are knocked out in the opening round, they will return to the regular season as early as Dec. 11th. The full knockout stage culminates in the title game on Dec. 16.
First Big Road Trip
After the NBA Cup wraps up, they have a home game against the Raptors on Dec. 18, before their first major road trip of the season, playing five games on the road in eight days. It’s a mostly Midwest trip, with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 21, the Pacers on the 23rd, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Chicago Bulls in a back-to-back on the 26th and 27th, before heading to Charlotte to play the Hornets on the 29th.
Holiday Games
As mentioned previously, the Bucks will not be participating on Christmas for the second straight season. Yet, the NBA didn’t completely leave them out of the holiday games, with them playing on three of them throughout the year. Outside of the Black Friday game against the Knicks, they will also host the Washington Wizards for a New Year’s Eve game at 7:00 p.m. CST. The last holiday game they get is on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the road against the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 19. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for Noon Central and will be streamed on Peacock.
Two West Coast Trips
After that game on NYE against the Wizards and the game on Jan. 2 against the Hornets, the Bucks will embark on their first west coast road trip of the season, playing six games in nine days, starting on Jan. 4 against the Sacramento Kings. The other five will be against the Golden State Warriors on ESPN on Jan. 7, the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 9, the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 11, and a pit stop at home to play the Timberwolves on Jan. 13 on NBC, before heading back west to play the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 15 (the 5th time Giannis and Wemby would potentially matchup, provided Wembanyama’s blood clots).
The second of those two trips will be a quick four-game excursion, with the Utah Jazz on Mar. 19, the Phoenix Suns on Mar. 21, the Los Angeles Clippers on Mar. 23, and the Portland Trail Blazers on Mar. 25 (Jrue and the Blazers will visit Milwaukee on Nov. 24).
Some Good Home Cooking
Towards the end of February and the beginning of March, the Bucks will have nine home games in a 10-game stretch, with their lone road game coming against the Chicago Bulls on Mar. 1. Eight of those games will be against Eastern Conference foes, including what’s projected to be the top of the conference in the Cavaliers (Feb. 25), the Knicks (Feb. 27), the Hawks (Mar. 4), and the Orlando Magic (Mar. 8).
The End of the Season
Three of the final four games for the Bucks’ regular season will be on the road, with the Brooklyn Nets on April 7th and the Detroit Pistons on ESPN on April 8. Their regular-season home finale will be on April 10 against the Nets, before traveling to the City of Brotherly Love to play the Philadelphia 76ers on April 12.