San Antonio Spurs veteran Tim Duncan insisted the NBA champions are on the right track after as they bid to secure yet another play-off appearance.

The eighth-placed Spurs are only three-and-a-half games clear of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference after dropping four games in succession prior to back-to-back wins over the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns.

It has not been a typical season for the Spurs (36-23), who are already three losses worse off than the entire 2013-14 campaign.

But Duncan - averaging 14.5 points and 9.7 rebounds this season - is adamant the Spurs will be among the contenders heading into the play-offs.

"We had a rough patch but that's kind of how it goes," Duncan said on Tuesday. 

"It can domino sometimes. You lose a close one and then it goes from just losing a close one to feeling bad about it to lose another one. It kind of dominoes. We went through that. We learned from that. Hopefully, we're better because of it."

Duncan added: "When you lose games, three or four in a row like we have, people start to panic and want to change something or change everything.

"You have to stay steady with it and understand it's a work in progress and we're not in as bad a position as it may seem at the time. 

"We get some wins together and start feeling good about ourselves then we'll be in the right place during the play-offs."