Kevin Durant says hamstring feeling 'way better,' but he won't be 'dumb' By James Herbert

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant has missed the team's last two games after hurting his hamstring last Tuesday against the Washington Wizards, but he doesn't exactly sound worried about it. He told reporters that there has already been a lot of improvement, and joked about his timetable to return, via ESPN's Royce Young:

"Feeling a lot better," he said. "Way better, actually."

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"Hamstrings are a little different," Durant said. "You can re-injure them pretty easily if you try and play through it, or as we say now, 'Be tough.' I call that being dumb. But hamstring strains you can't really try and play through it. Just got to get it right and make sure everything is perfect when I come back to play."

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Asked if he has a better sense of his timetable, Durant said, "December probably is when I'll play again."

Really?

"Nah," he said, laughing. "Who knows, man? It's a day-by-day thing. They said a week to 10 days that they'll look back at it, so we'll see after that. But once they look at it again, I just want to be 100 percent ready to play. I don't want to push it and 'be tough.' I just want to be smart about it."

Durant, who is expected to miss the Thunder's next two games against the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans, called this a "minor bump in the road." It is nothing compared to last year, when he had three surgeries, missed 55 regular-season games and Oklahoma City failed to qualify for the playoffs. He is keeping things in perspective, and he's completely right about how being "tough" is often just being dumb.

In Durant's absence, the Thunder had no problem with the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday but lost at home to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Anthony Morrow has been starting in his place, but the sharpshooter missed all four of his looks against the Celtics, who have perhaps the best collection of perimeter defenders in the league. After what happened last season, though, no one in OKC will be clamoring for Durant to rush back and save the day. He'll be back when he's healthy, and that shouldn't be too long anyway.