KEVIN DURANT’S return to his hometown was cut short after he sustained an injury just prior to halftime during the Thunder’s game against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.

    The 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player drove toward the basket late in the first half, elevated and got fouled. When the play was over, Durant limped a bit around the court and clutched at his strained left hamstring.

    “I came down a little awkward,” Durant said, speaking softly in a hallway outside the locker room, “and landed on it a little harder than I wanted to and I pulled it.”

    After Durant left at halftime because of his injury, Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook took over, compiling a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds to lead Oklahoma City to a 125-101 victory over the struggling Wizards.

    Durant missed most of last season with a broken right foot that needed three operations, and Westbrook emerged as the league’s scoring champion. A similar scenario played out Tuesday, as Westbrook had 10 points, five assists and three rebounds in the third quarter to build a comfortable lead, then rested in the fourth.

    “With Kevin not coming out of the locker room in the second half,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said, “I thought our guys came out with great focus.”

    Durant, second in the NBA in scoring entering the night, had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Dion Waiters scored 25 points for the Thunder, who had lost three of their past four games and now are 5-3.

    They have a couple of days off now, and Durant didn’t sound like someone too worried about missing a lot of time with what he said was his first hamstring problem.

    He called it a “small injury” and said he’ll have an MRI exam later.

    “I mean, I can walk,” he said. “I’m a little sore.”

    Donovan said: “I don’t think it’s anything too serious.”

    John Wall had only nine points and five assists as Washington’s losing streak reached three games.

    Coach Randy Wittman lit into his players at his postgame news conference.

    “We’re just too soft of a team right now,” he said.

    Durant can become a free agent after this season, and the Wizards are among many teams expected to try to sign him, with fans adopting the slogan “KD2DC.” He was born in Washington and went to high school in nearby Rockville, Maryland.

    (SD-Agencies)