Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons called his team "too soft" for the second time this season after Friday night's 123-121 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Playing without star center Joel Embiid, who missed the game with a sore ankle, the Sixers allowed Atlanta to rack up 62 points in the paint while out-rebounding Philadelphia 44-30.
"Definitely," Simmons said when asked if physicality was the Sixers' biggest problem. "I think we were too soft."
In November, Simmons also used "soft" to describe his team -- and Embiid agreed -- after a 25-point loss to the Brooklyn Nets, though that was before the Sixers completed a major trade to acquire swingman Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves.