After 561 days away from the game he loves — and the sport he was dominating — Kevin Durant finally played a game that mattered.

Though Durant led his new team, the Nets, to a rout of his old one, the Warriors, in a 125-99 season-opening laugher, the star forward wouldn’t get wrapped up in the texts or the talk or the narratives.

Durant was back to playing hoops. Tuesday was just the first baby step in a long arduous journey back to the pinnacle of the game — not All-Star berths or scoring titles, but real titles.

“It’s mainly, how can we get the job done?” Durant said. “I know it’s a lot of emotions and a lot of things. I got so many calls and texts about playing again. For me, I was just, I’ve got to focus on the first possession, and then try and get through that and move on each possession.

“I try not to make too much of a deal out of this whole thing, and realize I’ve been playing this game since I was 8 years old, so just got to revert back to what I know.”

Durant got the job done in his return with 22 points in 25 efficient minutes. Kyrie Irving poured in a game-high 26 on 10-of-16 shooting. Both had double-figures just six minutes into the game to spot the Nets to a 14-point lead that ballooned to 35 in the fourth quarter.

It marked Durant’s first game that counts since he ruptured his Achilles tendon playing for these same Warriors in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. It’s an injury that has derailed many careers. Clearly Durant won’t be among those.

But while media, players and coaches — including Golden State coach Steve Kerr — have been gushing that Durant looks like he’s back to his former MVP self, he has refused to be drawn into that narrative. He’s thinking big picture.

“Just another experience underneath the belt,” Durant said. “More and more of these experience with my teammates in a newer environment, all of us in a new environment, it’s only going to make us better as we move forward. We just want to keep plugging away every day and each player get better individually, and we’ll see what happens.”

The unspoken goal, of course, is a title. But Durant, a two-time Finals MVP, understands better than most how long that journey will be.

“He has an eye for the long game. He realizes a lot of steps [are] still to be taken,” Nets coach Steve Nash said.

“The reason he’s not getting carried away with all the chatter of ‘Where is he? Who is he? What is he after this injury?’ He’s just trying to find his rhythm and his game again. Obviously he’s playing very well, but that’s just not his style. He’s a great teammate, great team player, wants to make the right plays. He’s not out here trying to win a scoring title, he’s just trying to play the right way. We’re fortunate to have a player of his caliber but also a player of his character.”

Durant is raising the bar, though. His baseline dunk just five minutes into his NBA return spotted the Nets to an 18-8 lead.

An Irving 3-pointer made it 36-17 with 2:29 left in the first. He and Durant outscored Golden State by themselves in the opening period, after which the Nets led 40-25.

The defense might have been just as encouraging. Granted, Golden State was without both Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, but the Nets were impressive in holding the Warriors to 37.4 percent shooting overall and 30.3 percent from 3-point range.

Stephen Curry had 20 points and 10 assists, but the Nets held the Warriors star and Andrew Wiggins to a combined 11-of-35 shooting with seven turnovers. There was Irving, diving for loose balls, and Durant, taking a charge on 7-foot rookie James Wiseman with the Nets up 20 midway through the second quarter.

Caris LeVert’s 3-pointer pushed it to 95-60 with 3:17 left in the third. The rest was garbage time.

“We’ve been working hard. We just want that hard work to continue to pay off in the long run,” Irving said. “We’re going to enjoy this regular season game-to-game, but we ultimately know what the goal is after these 72 games, and that’s 16 wins.”