Durant to make season debut on Tuesday

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant received medical clearance to play in his first game this season on Tuesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Durant’s season debut comes six weeks after he suffered a broken right foot and underwent surgery on Oct. 16 to repair a Jones fracture. He missed 17 games.

The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player began partcipating last week in non-contact drills with the team and was part of a full practice on Monday.

Last season, Durant averaged an NBA-leading 32.0 points per game, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists en route to the league MVP award.

Without Durant and injured point guard Russell Westbrook during the first month of this season, the Thunder struggled to a 5-12 record. Only the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves have worse records in the Western Conference, but Oklahoma City has won consecutive games since Westbrook returned to the lineup.