OKLAHOMA CITY — The moment Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks hesitated, the answer was obvious.
Maybe he was just considering how to word his answer. Give him the benefit of the doubt, and you could make the case Brooks was being deliberate. A thinking man.
When asked about the recent issues with his team, the ones that have led to Oklahoma City pingponging between wins and losses the past six games, Brooks eventually came correct — even if it took an extra moment or two.
"I wouldn't say we've played good basketball," he said.
No holes in that story. It's true. Hard to make a case otherwise, as the Thunder lost again at home, this time collapsing in the second quarter and coming undone in the fourth.
The result was a 114-105 victory for the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.
That's what happened Friday, but the big-picture question is: What will happen next?
Is it time to panic for the Thunder? Standby on that. After all, the Thunder are still the top team in the Western Conference, three games clear of the Spurs.
It's possibly a panic-later-but-be-concerned-now situation, because somewhere on the way to the young Thunder being celebrated as the team to beat in the West, the Spurs have entered the conversation as title-worthy. They have beaten Oklahoma City twice in three meetings this season.
In addition, concern comes in the form of odd, discouraging sluggishness at home, where the Thunder have lost three of their past four.
"It's still early before the playoffs," star forward Kevin Durant said. "Tonight, we stepped back a little."
The backslide began in an eight-minute stretch in the second quarter, when the Thunder went from a workable 11-point deficit to a mountainous 27 points down with 3:36 to play before the break.
The step back came in the fourth quarter. After pulling within two points with 1:20 to play, the Thunder gave up a Tim Duncan basket, threw away an inbounds pass on the next possession — leading to a Danny Green dunk — and then rushed a shot, a miss by Russell Westbrook, who led OKC with 36 points.
"We dug ourselves a hole," said Durant, who added 25 points, 16 in the fourth quarter. "We can't be relaxed because we're at home. We have to come out with a sense of urgency and play harder. I wish I had been more aggressive."
Durant was talking about Friday's loss to the Spurs, but he easily could have been talking about what has become an unexplainable home slump in which the Thunder has not matched the crowd's enthusiasm.
"It's 48 minutes," Brooks said. "Your job is to do it every night for 66 games this year. We did it for probably 30-35 minutes tonight."
Before Friday's defeat, the Thunder (33-11) lost to Cleveland and Houston, sandwiched around a win over hapless Charlotte. Meanwhile, the Spurs (29-13) have won nine of their past 10 road games to creep closer.
"They are one of the best teams in basketball," Brooks said. "They have a lot of good pieces and play so well together."
Well enough to shoot 51.7 percent for the game, including 59.1 percent in the first half.
"We had a great night," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Oklahoma City had a tough start. They missed some easy shots and couldn't get a jumper to fall, so were able to get a lead. I thought a lot of guys played well. The whole starting group played well tonight."
Did it ever. Duncan had 16 points and 19 rebounds. DeJuan Blair had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Tony Parker had 25 points and seven assists, Kawhi Leonard had 15 points and Green had 25 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter when he made 4 of 5 shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers.
But back to the Thunder. On Friday, it was a big deficit early. On Tuesday, it was a loss late.
"The Houston loss was a tough loss," Brooks said of the Rockets closing the game on a 13-1 run in the last 2:21. "We did everything wrong at the end. Cleveland (on March 9) was just one of those losses that happens. Tonight's game: San Antonio is a good team. We know what we have to do to win. We do it most nights. We'll come back Sunday and fight for 48 minutes. We'll come back and play better."
Portland comes to town next, but hard to imagine that one's a given. Not after Friday, when the Thunder lost again while Portland won in Chicago.
"It's more important to play good basketball down the stretch," Brooks said, talking about the process and not the standings. "We have played good basketball all year. Our focus is not the No. 1 seed. We have never talked about it."
Brooks isn't talking about it, but it's time to start thinking playoffs, thinking seedings and thinking about how this team might be able to shake out of its mini-slump.
"We played a tough game," Westbrook said. "We fought. We just dug ourselves a big hole and weren't able to get out of it. This isn't a season-ending loss. We have some fight in us."
