Bulls Mocked by NBA Twitter for Loss vs. Hornets Despite LaMelo Ball's Struggles

The Chicago Bulls have been competitive against elite teams in the NBA, so it's especially disappointing when they fail to show up against a team like the Charlotte Hornets, who rank second-to-last in the Eastern Conference.

Thursday's game continued a concerning trend for the Bulls as they suffered a 111-96 road loss to the Hornets at Spectrum Center. This marks Chicago's 17th loss against teams with a record below .500 this season.

What's most confusing is this same Bulls team has wins over the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets, all within the month of January. It seems Chicago routinely finds a way to lose to teams it should beat, and such was the case against Charlotte.

Hornets star point guard LaMelo Ball had an awful night from the field, shooting 2-of-15 on his way to finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and six turnovers. Still, the Bulls' All-Star tandem of DeMar DeRozan (28 points) and Zach LaVine (18) didn't do enough to secure a road victory.

NBA Twitter unloaded on the Bulls for their failure to take care of business in a game that looked like an easy win on paper:

Now riding a two-game skid, Chicago has yet to win more than three games in a row this season.

The team entered the year with aspirations of competing for a playoff spot, but its inconsistencies indicate that it might have trouble even qualifying for the play-in tournament.

The Bulls (22-26) will look to bounce back when they visit the Orlando Magic (19-29) on Saturday.