Sixers Notes: Brett Brown is proud that Sixers 'fight for it every day'

LOS ANGELES - Brett Brown was asked Sunday how he has grown as a coach since he took over the 76ers in August 2014.

"I don't really know," he said. "What I do know is we held onto something firm that we believe in and we fight for it every day."

By now, most NBA fans realize that the Sixers have been sacrificing wins for the last two seasons to secure solid draft picks.

Through it all, Brown has endured record-tying losing streaks and coached a revolving door of players. But he remains upbeat. That's partly because his team plays hard even though it often is overmatched. And the Sixers' relentless approach has enabled them to steal a few victories.

The Sixers are 17-53 after Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. They had won four of their last seven games.

"You have to fight every single day for what you believe in," Brown said. "I just feel like the fight that we do fight every single day has proven that you get rewarded for it.

"These guys play hard. They play together and coexist throughout turmoil."

But Brown admitted that getting players to keep fighting has been harder than dealing with the pressure that comes with lofty expectations.

"At the end of day, the X's and the O's are important," Brown said. "But how do you get a team to compete? How do you get them to buy in? How do you get a team to coexist, to try to find togetherness through turmoil? I think that's just the greatest challenge of coaching."

Jason Richardson will sit out Tuesday against the Kings in Sacramento. The Sixers shooting guard will play Wednesday in Denver. Richardson has not been cleared to play on back-to-back nights since returning from two knee surgeries. He played in his first game Feb. 2 after missing a season and a half.