Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks put the Thunder through a grueling practice following his club's third defeat in six games without Kevin Durant.
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the session was that Durant participated fully.
Brooks left the possibility open that Durant could return Wednesday night as Oklahoma City looks to win an eighth straight home meeting with the Phoenix Suns.
Durant missed the season's first 17 games with a foot injury, and fellow star Russell Westbrook missed 14 those contests with a fractured right hand as the Thunder limped to a 5-12 start.
Oklahoma City (15-17) went 7-2 as Durant averaged 22.4 points upon his return, but he suffered a sprained ankle after scoring 30 in a loss to Golden State on Dec. 18 and hasn't played since.
Westbrook has averaged 30.2 points in Durant's second extended absence, but he finished 6 of 23 from the field and scored just 18 with nine rebounds and nine assists in Sunday's 112-107 loss at Dallas.
Serge Ibaka scored a season-high 26 points but had just two in the final quarter.
"There were a few things that we wanted to focus on (in practice)," Brooks told the team's official website. "One was to establish what we need to do better throughout the game, and not just late in games. Everything we've talked about, those things are correctable."
The Thunder were outscored 31-19 in the fourth quarter and are allowing an average of 103.7 points over their last seven. They gave up 93.9 points per game over their first 25.
"Most of the time it's been our defense," big man Kendrick Perkins said. "We can get better on the offensive end and I feel like we will. We need to get back to our rule of trying to hold teams under 100 points. It's doesn't start late in the game, it starts throughout the game from the first quarter."
Durant's return could provide a spark on both ends of the floor. He scored 23 points and Westbrook had 28 in a 112-88 victory over Phoenix on Dec. 14 in Oklahoma City.
Brooks didn't say definitively that Durant would play in this contest but seemed optimistic.
"He was very lively and active on both ends of the floor (in practice)," Brooks said of Durant. "He's progressing well. We'll see how he feels and go from there."
Westbrook has averaged 32.3 points in his last three while Durant has scored 32.0 in his last four against the Suns (18-15), who will be completing a four-game road trip.
They had a six-game winning streak snapped with Tuesday's 110-106 loss to New Orleans. Phoenix also had a five-game road winning streak end despite 22 points form Goran Dragic and 21 from Eric Bledsoe.
The Suns allowed a season-worst 58 points in the paint.
"You give a team a lot of confidence in their shooting when you give up easy layups," coach Jeff Hornacek said. "In the first half, especially in the beginning, we were terrible defensively. We got after it after that a little bit to get us back in the game and then it was a game from then on. We can't take plays off in the beginning of the game."
The Suns have lost 12 of the last 14 meetings with Oklahoma City, winning the final two matchups of last season at home.
