Westbrook carries Thunder past injury-depleted Pelicans

For what it’s worth, it doesn’t sound like Durant has endured any further setbacks since he first sustained the hamstring strain last week, but his activity over the next two days will likely dictate his availability for Saturday.

Kevin Durant injured his left hamstring in a 125-101 win by the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Washington Wizards. As has often been the case in recent seasons, Westbrook compiled a huge individual performance vs. New Orleans, piling up 43 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, enabling the Thunder to prevail without the services of 2013-14 league MVP Kevin Durant.

It seems that timeline was on point as Durant told reporters on Sunday that he’s feeling “way better”. “Way better, actually. Hamstrings are a little different”. You can re-injure them pretty easily if you try to play through it, or as we say now, ‘Be tough’.

“I call that being dumb. But hamstring strains you can not really try to play through it. [I have] just got to get it right and make sure that everything is flawless when I come back to play”.

OKC grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds after long misses in the final minute, allowing it to bleed the game clock all the way down to 28 seconds.

The Thunder initially said last Wednesday that Durant would be re-evaluated in seven-to-10 days following the MRI on his strained hamstring. Enes Kanter had arguably his most important game of the season, contributing a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds while going to the charity stripe 12 times. “I felt like I was in a good groove before, but it’s a part of the game”. But once they look at it again, I just want to be 100 percent ready to play. “I just got to keep working to get back, and I’ve been working my tail off every single day to get back, and my teammates have been holding it down”. Anthony Morrow is expected to remain the starter at small forward until Durant returns.