Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports Earlier in the offseason, the NBA announced that the 2020-21 regular season schedule would not be announced in typical fashion. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, each team will only be scheduled to play 72 games, instead of the normal 82-game slate, and the league is releasing only the “First Half” of the schedule — covering Dec. 22 through Mar. 4 — before the downbeat of the campaign. Earlier in the week, the national television schedule for the first three days was released but, while the Atlanta Hawks were not included, the full First Half slate arrived on Friday. The Hawks will open the 2020-21 season with a match-up on the road against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Dec. 23. From there, Atlanta will have its home opener on Monday, Dec. 28 against the Detroit Pistons. The schedule features 17 home games and 20 road games, with seven back-to-back sets.