Ben Simmons was forced out of the Thursday night contest against the Detroit Pistons in the middle of the third quarter. The Brooklyn Nets point forward experienced knee soreness and did not return after 20 minutes of action.

Brooklyn was on the second night of a back-to-back, which marks the second time in a row that Simmons was unable to complete the two games in two nights. Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn was asked about durability possibly being a concern for Ben Simmons in such spots going forward.

Vaughn didn't want any excuses and while he didn't call out the Aussie outright, he did praise the players who were ready to play on both legs of the back-to-back.

“The goal is, in my eyes, is for everyone to play every game and to do what’s necessary to be prepared to play every game,” Vaughn said when asked about concern level on Ben Simmons. “There’s a certain amount of minutes that each individual played in Philly. Some played equally tonight, so the preparation that it takes going into that, you just have to give credit to the guys who were prepared to play, ready to play, did what was necessary to get their bodies ready to play.”

Ben Simmons was coming off a physical showdown against his former team in the Philadelphia 76ers the night before, matching up several times with former running mate Joel Embiid. But to Vaughn, the rest of the Nets roster played those physical minutes all the same.