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USA vs. Dominican Republic: Score, Recap & Highlights

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Final Score: United States 105, Dominican Republic 62


The bad news for the United States men’s basketball team was that the Red White and Blue faced a deficit Wednesday night against the Dominican Republic.

The good news is that the deficit was extremely short-lived and the U.S. took the Dominicans to the woodshed from the middle of the first quarter on.

The U.S. went on a 14-0 first-quarter run to open up a lead and never looked back, throttling the D.R. 105-62 at Madison Square Garden in their second tuneup for the World Cup of basketball, which begins next week in Spain. (Watch a full highlight feel from the game in the video above and check out the box score here.)

The U.S. is in action again Friday night against Puerto Rico. Check out a preview of the game here:

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USA vs. Puerto Rico: Preview, TV, Live Stream & Prediction

Here’s how the win over the DR went down:

Kyrie Irving Started in Place of Derrick Rose & Dominated


Kyrie Irving, who started in place of Derrick Rose, played only 16 minutes but had a virtually perfect stat line: 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting with 5 assists and no turnovers.

Rose, who sat out with knee soreness, is expected to practice with the team as it prepares to play Puerto Rico in another exhibition game Friday. The Americans open the World Cup August 30 against Finland.

Rudy Gay & DeMar DeRozan Had 13 Points Apiece


Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan had 13 points apiece off the bench for the U.S., and DeRozen added 6 assists and 5 rebounds. (Watch the video above for a DeRozan-centric highlight reel.)

James Harden and Andre Drummond had 12 points apiece and Klay Thompson added 11 off the bench.

Francisco Garcia and James Feldeine had 14 points apiece for the Dominicans, who had 16 turnovers and just 5 assists.

The U.S. Led 53-31 at the Half

Karl Towns, an incoming freshman at Kentucky who played his senior year in high school at St. Joseph of Metuchen in New Jersey, checked in for the Dominicans.

Towns played for the Wildcats against the Dominican team during an exhibition game last week and put on a show during the tour, as NJ.com’s Jeremy Schneider wrote last week.

Here’s a look at Towns schooling his DR teammates with a no-look pass while playing for UK:

The U.S. Led 28-17 at the End of the 1st Quarter

The United States trailed by a bucket in the opening minutes, but jumped ahead quickly with a 14-0 run that turned a 6-4 deficit into an 18-6 lead.

James Harden, who earned widespread ridicule earlier this week for saying he was the best player alive, recovered nicely from an airball, scoring 7 straight points during the run.

Francisco Garcia, Harden’s Houston Rockets teammate, scored 9 points in the quarter to keep the Dominicans in it.

Starting Lineups: Irving in, Rose Out

Derrick Rose, who’s nursing a sore knee and was a game-time decision, will not play. Kyrie Irving is starting in his place along with Steph Curry and James Harden in the backcourt.

Here are the lineups:

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

G Edgar Sosa
G James Fledeine
F Eulis Baez
F Francisco Garcia
C Eloy Vargas

UNITED STATES:

G Kyrie Irving
G James Harden
G Stephen Curry
F Kenneth Faried
F Anthony Davis

Pregame: Steph Curry Leads Team USA Onto the Court

Here’s what you need to know about the game:

WHEN: 7 p.m. Eastern time

WHERE: Madison Square Garden

TV: NBA TV

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Kyrie Irving replaced Derrick Rose in the starting lineup and put on a show at Madison Square Garden, leading Team USA to a rout of the Dominican Republic.