Funkerstation » . But they see no need to rush him into g

SAN ANTONIO -- Diana Taurasi had all of her 18 points in the first half and the Phoenix Mercury beat the San Antonio Stars 81-65 in the regular-season finale for both teams on Sunday.Phoenix (16-18) will be the eighth seed in the playoffs and play at Indiana in the first round.The Mercury pulled away with a 10-1 run to end the second quarter ahead 45-33. The Stars (7-27) closed within 64-58 late in the third, but the Mercury went on a 12-0 run to lead by 18 with 6:52 left in the game.Brittney Griner scored 11 of her 15 points after halftime, Candice Dupree added 12 points and DeWanna Bonner 10.Monique Currie led San Antonio with 19 points. Moriah Jefferson scored 16 and Haley Peters added 11.The game marked the end of San Antonio coach Dan Hughes career as well as center Jayne Appel-Marinelli.Slick Watts Jersey . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. John Johnson Jersey . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. https://www.supersonicsjerseys.com/540s-jeff-green-jersey-supersonics.html . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Desmond Mason Jersey . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Jim Fox Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium.A look at Fridays NFL preseason matchups:BACK IN CINCYVikings coach Mike Zimmer returns to Cincinnati, where he made his reputation as a defensive coordinator before being hired in Minnesota in 2014. Last season, Zimmer led the Vikings to the NFC North title.It brings back a lot of good memories, Zimmer says. We had a good run. Mike Brown was really good to me and, obviously, Marvin (Lewis) and a lot of the players that I coached. Itll be fun. Itll be fun to bring my team in here, trying to compete with them.Zimmer notes how working for the Bengals prepared him for head coaching.I think (in) a lot of different ways, he says. I got a chance to see how Marvin does things, how he treats people, the way he earns respect. When I left Atlanta -- I was there for three-quarters of a year or whatever -- but, coming (to Cincinnati) and being able to resurrect my career a little bit. I think that helped a lot, (plus) being able to get some good players in here.NO CANCELLATION THIS TIMEGreen Bay was supposed to have already looked at rookies, undrafted players, fringe free agents and other players in last Sundays Hall of Fame game. Then the game was called off because of poor field conditions.Lambeau Field shouldnt have any such issues when the Browns visit the Packers. Indeed, the Packers wont be painting anything in preparation for Clevelands visit, or until they get the iconic stadium ready for the regular season.The Browns will be without at least three of their top four receivers when starting quarterback Robert Griffin III makes his unofficial debut with Cleveland. First-round pick Corey Coleman and veteran Andrew Hawkins will miss the game with hamstring injuries, while recently reinstated receiver Josh Gordon will sit out with an injured quad.Terrelle Pryor may also sit out with a calf injury suffered during practice Wednesday evening.SHOW ME SOME OFFENSENew Dolphins coach Adam Gase, an offensive mastermind, was more than a little disturbed by the ineptitude of his offense in last Saturdays scrimmage. Hes a bit more optimistic about Friday nights visit to the New York Giants after a few days of working on the problems.Yes. I feel light years better, Gase says. We needed to go through that. We needed to see what happens when just about everything possible could have gone wrong. Somebody screwed up on every play. It was like second-and-20 and then we were third-and-17. That probably needed to happen. I think guys just kind of took a step back and realized its about just doing my job and then things will work out. The more guys we have doing that, the bettter chance we have.ddddddddddddCARSONS CARDINALSFresh with a contract extension that should carry him through the rest of his career, 36-year-old QB Carson Palmer will handle about a dozen plays when Arizona hosts Oakland.Ive been playing my whole career, Palmer says, to be in a situation like this and play for an owner (Michael Bidwill) like this and a GM (Steve Keim) like this.Palmer led the Cardinals to the NFC title game, where he struggled in a rout at the hands of the Carolina. Naturally, hes looking ahead.Its a dream situation, Palmer says, having the opportunity to play for a head coach like Bruce (Arians), but also a play caller like Bruce. Michaels given everybody in the locker room everything you could possibly need to go out and just focus on football and play good football.SIT OR PLAYRaiders coach Jack Del Rio said hed like to play all his healthy players in the preseason opener at Arizona. Whether rookie safety Karl Joseph qualifies as healthy remains to be seen.Joseph has been practicing with the starters since the start of training camp but has gotten occasional time off as the team wants to make sure his surgically repaired right knee is completely healthy; it forced him to miss the end of his final college season at West Virginia. The Raiders were confident enough in Josephs health to draft him in the first round and have been pleased with his play in camp, including an end zone interception against Derek Carr in practice this week. But they see no need to rush him into game action.The goal is to be ready for Sundays, Joseph said. I definitely would like to get some preseason action. But its going to be a day-to-day thing to see how the knees feeling.MISMATCHDuring the Steelers scrimmages against the Lions this week heading toward the preseason game in Pittsburgh, All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown often had his way against Detroit cornerback Darius Slay.So much so that Brown couldnt help bragging about it.At one point during 7-on-7 drills, Brown yelled to the Steelers sideline: Im killing him. The leagues leading pass catcher in 2015 also told Slay hed be going deep all day, and then made good on the promise with a long TD catch.That matchup isnt likely to be seen Friday night because Brown, Ben Roethlisberger and LeVeon Bell, the stalwarts of Pittsburghs offense, figure to sit it out. But even one play against Brown could be too much for Slay.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '