Ben Simmons Calls 76ers 'Soft' After Blowout Loss to Jimmy Butler, Heat

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons called the Sixers "soft" following a 137-106 blowout loss to the Miami Heat on Monday night.

"The physicality side of things, we gotta step that up. That comes with experience—also just comes with personality," Simmons told reporters. "Don't get bullied. Fight over screens, get through screens. If you gotta knock somebody over, knock 'em over. If you gotta hit somebody in the face and knock 'em down so they don't score, hit 'em in the face."

The Sixers allowed the Heat to shoot 56.5 percent from the field and forced just three turnovers, tying the lowest total for any team during the 2019-20 season.

"Our defense was poor," 76ers head coach Brett Brown said. "When you create three turnovers for a game, it's just not a reflection of who we are. I think we're the third- or the fourth-best defensive team in the NBA. And we weren't even close to that tonight."

Philadelphia's record dropped to 31-20 with the loss. While the team remains 12.5 games clear of the ninth-placed Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the 76ers rarely showcased the championship-level form expected coming into the campaign.

Simmons' comments aren't out of the blue.

In December, former NBA stars and current TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal called out 76ers center Joel Embiid over his lack of assertiveness.

"He's the toughest player in the league to match up with," Barkley said. "But we don't talk about him the way we talk about Luka [Doncic], Giannis [Antetokounmpo], Anthony Davis, James [Harden]. We don't ever say that about him."

O'Neal added: "We're telling you, 'You can be great. You ain't playing hard enough.'"

The schedule doesn't get any easier on the immediate horizon for the Sixers, who've lost three straight games and four of their last six.

Their next six games feature two road clashes with the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks, sandwiched around meetings with the Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets.

It's a stretch that also includes the All-Star break, which comes at a perfect time for a Philadelphia squad still trying to establish its identity.