The Philadelphia 76ers continue to have a maddening season and Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat was one of their lowest points of the season. They were pushed around in the second half and they gave up the most points they’ve given up all season at 137 points. That includes giving up 81 points in the final 24 minutes.
The Sixers are a team that is built to be strong on defense and Monday’s loss is unacceptable for those plans. Ben Simmons, who finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, had enough of what was going on with the team.
“I don’t know, but we were soft though,” he said succinctly. “We were soft.”
It has happened a few times this season where the team will fall apart defensively in the second half and it has cost them a lot of games throughout the season. So how does the team stop being soft?
“Soft is just don’t get bullied,” he continued. “Fight over screens, get through screens, if you got to knock somebody over, knock them over. If you have to hit somebody in the face and knock them down so they don’t score, then hit them in the face.”
Mike Scott, who hopped off the bench to score 17 points, agreed wholeheartedly with his All-Star teammate.
“Yup, we played soft tonight,” he said. “Yup.”
How do they get the physicality back?
“Not be soft,” he simply added.
Ben Simmons called the team “soft” tonight. Mike Scott’s response: “Yup, we were soft.” How do you get your physicality back? “Not be soft” #Sixers pic.twitter.com/sSHYLH57PP
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) February 4, 2020
The Sixers will now look to avoid a winless road trip on Thursday when they face the Milwaukee Bucks. [lawrence-related id=24856,24846,24830]