The Chicago Bulls lost once again, and it might be time for Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and the rest of the crew to get worried.

Chicago dropped their third straight game and sixth over the last ten outings on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets. It wasn't also their most competitive performance, falling behind by 28 points as Charlotte eventually ran away with the 133-117 win.

In a rather concerning result for the Bulls, the defeat means they are now 7-15 in games after the All-Star break. To put that in a better perspective, among all qualified playoff teams, they have the worst record in the said span. Moreover, it is only them and the Golden State Warriors (9-12) who have a losing record among postseason contenders in the same stretch–which certainly doesn't bode well for their championship aspirations (via Stat Muse).

Simply put, the Bulls are playing like a lottery team instead of a playoff contender. They couldn't have picked a worse time to play poorly as well, all after dominating early in the season and seeing themselves top the Eastern Conference standings.

There has been a lot of issues for the Bulls, but their defense is the main culprit. They have been one of the poorest defensive teams in the league, ranking 21st in defensive rating this 2021-22. Those numbers have been worse since the All-Star break as they further dropped to 25th.

Of course there is also their lack of big man depth, which has been exposed by their opponents.

It remains to be seen if the Bulls can step up defensively come the postseason. However, their time to find a quick fix is really running out with the regular season almost over.