The Milwaukee Bucks’ schedule for the 2026-27 season is out, as confirmed by the NBA’s Communications Department. Although the Bucks won’t play on any holidays, like Opening Night, Christmas Day, MLK Day, or Presidents’ Day, or travel abroad for any overseas games, there are a lot of intriguing matchups that Milwaukee will face this season.
Opening Night
The Bucks start the 2026-27 regular season with an away game at Washington. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6:00 PM CDT. It will be a bittersweet
game for Kyle Kuzma, who played over three seasons for the Wizards before joining Milwaukee in a trade that sent Khris Middleton and AJ Johnson to the Capital. The Wizards are led by Anthony Davis and Trae Young, two stars acquired by Washington in separate trades last season. Third-year center Alex Sarr and No. 1 2026 draft pick AJ Dybantsa will also feature heavily.
The Bucks will make their home opener a game later against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7:00 PM CDT. Milwaukee finished last season with a 3-1 head-to-head record against Chicago, the sole loss being a fourth-quarter meltdown that saw the Bulls embark on a 27-0 run. Hopefully that won’t happen again! Rookie Caleb Wilson and playmaker Josh Giddey will travel to Fiserv Forum in a regional showdown.
The Bucks will also face their fair share of contenders early. Milwaukee will travel to Philadelphia on Oct. 24 to face a championship-contending Sixers squad, while also playing Cleveland, Minnesota, New York, and Boston twice before Nov. 10.
Bucks travel to Miami
Milwaukee will travel to Miami to face the Giannis-led Heat in what could be an emotional or bitter reunion. They’ll face the Heat away from home in their 15th game of the season on Wednesday, Nov. 18; the game will be televised nationally on ESPN. There is some bad blood in this fight; former teammates Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo reportedly fought in a hotel gym during the Summer League after Herro criticized Adebayo’s defensive output. Giannis’ relationship with the Bucks also soured over the last year as the Bucks struggled to contend and Giannis dealt with a season-ending knee injury. However, the Bucks’ away game against Miami should also be an entertaining game between a young, developing core and a star-studded frontcourt looking to work its way into the Eastern Conference’s elite.
The Bucks will also host Miami in their second nationally televised game on Thursday, Jan. 28; Prime will televise the game. Milwaukee will travel back to Miami on Feb. 4 before hosting the season’s final matchup against the Heat on March 12. The Bucks’ first two games against the Heat are their only scheduled nationally televised games for this season.
NBA Cup Schedule
The Bucks will face the Raptors at home (Nov. 6), the Magic away from home (Nov. 13), the Nets at home (Nov. 25), and the Pistons away from home (Nov. 27) in their confirmed four-game NBA Cup schedule. Milwaukee will likely need to win all four games to advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals, although they could drop a game and still advance with a strong point differential. Although the last two winners of the NBA Cup (Thunder, Spurs) have both made the Finals, you don’t truly have to be a contending team to still find success in the in-season tournament. LeBron James and the Lakers pulled off a seven-game unbeaten stretch to win the inaugural Cup, but only managed the seventh seed and were bounced in the first round of the actual playoffs. The Bucks enter the group stage with high hopes.
Two road trips
The Bucks will have two big road trips where they play away from home for at least four games. The first road trip will be on the West Coast from Jan. 17 to Jan. 26. The Bucks will face the Lakers, the Kings, the Warriors, the Nuggets, and the Jazz before returning to Fiserv Forum, with each of the games starting at or after 8:00 PM CST.
Milwaukee will spend four games on the Eastern side of the States from Feb. 11 to Feb. 17. The Bucks will travel to Charlotte, Washington, and face Cleveland twice in back-to-back games at Rocket Arena before coming back home.
End of the season
Of Milwaukee’s final eight games of the season, six of them will be at home. The Bucks will play at Fiserv Forum for six straight games from March 29 to April 8, including a visit from the Knicks for their last regular-season home game of the year on the 8th. The Bucks will then travel to Chicago on Friday, April 9, before closing out the regular season with an away game at TD Garden against the Celtics on Sunday, April 11.
