/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37247336/453876858.0.jpg)
USA Basketball continued its march towards the FIBA World Cup Wednesday night with a 105-62 blowout win over the Dominican Republic in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York. Mike Krzyzewski and his staff continue to search for the right combination of players for the Team USA's final roster and several players that didn't play in Saturday's exhibition win over Brazil got opportunities on Wednesday.
DeMar DeRozan made the most of his opportunity leading Team USA in scoring with 13 points on 6-9 shooting. Rudy Gay also finished with 13 points while Andre Drummond chipped in 12. It was initially reported that cuts could happen as soon as Thursday but Krzyzewski squashed that in his post game presser saying that no cuts would happen before Friday's exhibition against Puerto Rico. Kyle Korver, Chandler Parsons, Mason Plumlee and Derrick Rose all didn't play on Wednesday.
Rose's situation bares watching as he hasn't practiced since Saturday's win over Brazil due to soreness in his knee. Team officials have insisted that Rose sitting out has just been precautionary but if there are any doubts about the knee then Rose could be left off the roster or the team could opt to carry another point guard like Damian Lillard who appears to be currently on the bubble.
Kyrie Irving replaced Rose in the starting lineup Wednesday night and finished with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds while going 5-5 from the field. Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis all made their second straight starts. Those five's spots on the final roster are all but assured. Klay Thompson also looks like a safe bet along with Rose if he is healthy.
The rest of the roster could be in flux and none of the players appear to be separating themselves from the competition. Narrowing the field down to just 12 players is not going to be an easy decision for the coaching staff.