(Associated Press)

The 76ers have lost eight consecutive games since they acquired Byron Mullens at the trade deadline. To Mullens, that’s got to feel like a mere drop in the bucket.

Mullens’ current team has lost 17 straight games, and will look to end that streak Wednesday against visiting Sacramento.

But weathering bad times on a basketball court is nothing new to Mullens, who endured a 23-game losing streak to close out the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. He and the Charlotte Bobcats won March 17, 2011 … and didn’t win again until the next season.

That situation, like this one he’s going through the Sixers, isn’t going to wear down Mullens, he said.

“The thing you have to realize is this is just a game. You come here, you practice, you work. It’s a job,” Mullens said the other day, before the Sixers’ loss at New York. “You can’t let this ruin your whole day. I’ve got other stuff I’ve got to focus on. This is not making my life. There’s other more-important things than just basketball. It doesn’t ruin the rest of my day.”

The losing does have a way of getting tiring, though … right?

“Does your job get tiring every day? I mean, it’s the same thing every day, right?” Mullens asked rhetorically. “We just go out there and have fun.”

The 2011-12 Bobcats and the 2013-14 Sixers have similarities. Those Bobcats had a roster with three rookies, four third-year guys and two fourth-year guys – all of whom factored into their rotation. These Sixers are the youngest team in NBA history.

“You have a young team and that’s what happens,” Mullens said. “You just have to keep everybody’s spirits up, do what you can and, like I said, there’s more important stuff than basketball. You just have to go out and play. As long as you’re having fun, that’s the best thing.”

But having fun can’t be an easy task to accomplish when your team hasn't won since Jan. 29.

“It depends,” Mullens said. “If you love the game, you don’t have a problem going out there and doing it every game. I don’t have a problem with it. We’re going out there, giving it our all, and that’s all you can ask for.”