Derrick Rose was scratched out of Team USA's list of players during the exhibition game against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday at the Madison Square Garden due to his sore knee. 

ESPN discussed that the Chicago Bulls player had to rest his knees after he returned to play last Saturday night during the exhibition game against Brazil in Chicago.

An ESPN source claimed that coach Mike Krzyzewski decided to keep Rose out of the game to make more minutes available for other players vying for the last few spots in the Team USA roster.

Tom Thibodeau, coach of the Chicago Bulls, further explained the decision.

"He's fine. He's just getting another day of rest. We gave him a couple days after the game Saturday in Chicago, and he didn't practice yesterday, so we thought the best thing to do would be to give him another day because we wanted to look at some other players today anyway," the coach explained.

It was noted in the same report that Rose was already able to join the shootaround on Wednesday morning with one source saying that he was already moving well.

Rose, according to ESPN, was also in uniform during Wednesday night's game but he only stayed on the bench for the rest of the match.

The player earlier denied that he had knee issues claiming that he was only suffering from body fatigue.

"Not the knees. No, no, no, no. You ain't got to worry about that," he was quoted by ESPN as saying.

When asked prior to Wednesday's game, Rose said that he has already received treatment and that all he needs is another rest day. 

"I'm really, really happy with where I am right now as far as health-wise. I'm just trying to take my time and get rest. We have a long schedule ahead of us, and I'm just trying to get as much rest as possible," he added.

In a similar report, SB Nation noted that Rose already missed the 2012-2013 season as he had to recover from a torn ACL and was only able to play for 10 games in Chicago before he again suffered another injury. In the exhibition game against Brazil on Saturday, Rose made seven points, four rebounds and two assists.

It was explained in the SB Nation report that soreness is a "part of the recover process" for a player who has just returned from a knee surgery. It added that Rose's condition should be a cause for panic. Also, Team USA still has a lot of players in the team who can contribute points for its victory like Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry and Damian Lillard. Krzyzewski told SB Naion that he will submit his final roster ahead of the 2014 FIBA World Cup.