US basketball adds two finalists to roster

The US men's Olympic basketball team named college standout Anthony Davis and Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden to the list of finalists for its roster on Thursday after losing a pair of players to injury.

Injuries to National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Stars Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls created a need to replenish the pool of players.

"After a lot of deliberations, after reviewing our roster, we think these two additions strengthen our national team program immeasurably," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in a statement.

Davis, who is expected to be a top pick in the NBA draft, led the University of Kentucky to this year's national college basketball championship and was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

Harden averaged career highs of 16.8 points per game and 4.1 rebounds for the Thunder this season in helping Oklahoma to the second best record in the Western Conference.