. I didnt bring him here because he was just a guy sitting o

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Greece rallied with a big fourth quarter to beat defending champion Spain 79-75 in the second round of the European basketball championship on Thursday. And Italys undefeated run came to an end against host Slovenia. Trailing by five at the end of three quarters, Greece outscored Spain 27-18 in the fourth to notch a win that could prevent Spain from winning a third consecutive title. "We controlled the rhythm, we made our shots and we had luck on our side," said Greece guard Kostas Sloukas. Vassilis Spanoulis led Greece with 20 points. Rudy Fernandez and centre Marc Gasol both had 20 for Spain. Earlier, Croatia used its size to rout Finland 88-63 for its first victory in the second round. Guard Goran Dragic scored 22 points as Slovenia beat Italy 84-77. His brother Zoran added 15 as the brothers scored all nine of Slovenias points in the last two minutes of the game, including a 3-pointer by Goran with 17.5 seconds left. Goran added 10 rebounds, while Mirza Begic had four blocked shots. Italy was the only team to finish the group stage with a perfect 5-0 record, but fell in its first second-round game against an inspired host team carried by the partisan crowd. Because group results are carried over into the second round, Italy has a 2-1 record, the same as Slovenia, and still has to play Croatia. "It is going to be difficult for us to qualify (for quarterfinals)," Italy coach Simone Pianigiani said. Italy was unable to compensate for the lack of size against the bigger Slovenians, who scored 46 points in the paint, compared to 22 for Italy. "They are a smart team but we played very good defence. We had 44 rebounds, they 29, that was the key," Goran Dragic said. Slovenia coach Bozidar Maljkovic agreed: "Those 10 rebounds were very important. Thats why we won the game." Greece was down by 10 at the end of the first quarter, but used the absence of Gasol in the second quarter to take the lead, 41-38 at halftime. Gasol collected three personal fouls in the first quarter and sat out the second. "Marc plays 40 minutes in the NBA and never fouls out, he knows how to take care of himself. I dont know what happened here," Spain coach Juan Orenga said. Gasol returned in the third, scored 11 straight points, and Spain outscored Greece 19-11 to regain the lead 57-52. Spanoulis then scored five straight to put Greece back up by one. Gasol made two free throws to leave Spain down by four, but forward Mikhail Bramos nailed a 3-pointer with one minute remaining to score the vital points that secured Greeces victory. Spanoulis made four consecutive free throws to offset a 3 by Alex Mumbru and Greece cruised home. "We are still walking in hell and we have to keep walking," Greece coach Andrea Trinchieri said. Greece and Spain have 1-2 records. Croatias big men dominated the boards as the team pulled down 47 rebounds, while Finland finished with 30. Damjan Rudez made five of eight 3-point attempts and finished with 17 points. Croatias defence also shut down Finlands top scorer, Petteri Koponen, whose first points came when he made a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the third quarter. He finished with five points. J. T. Realmuto Jersey . Im very excited about the playoffs, particularly in the Western Conference with amazing match-ups, as well as the wonderful local story in the Toronto Raptors. It should be a blast. Here are my predictions, but based upon my lousy prognostications during the NCAA Tournament, you might be better off going the other way on some of mine - particularly with the Raptors, who I hope and pray are able to win an incredibly difficult match-up. Miami Marlins Jerseys .com) - The fading Ottawa Senators have a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race on Tuesday night as they play host to the New York Rangers. http://www.marlinsteamproshop.com/Marlins-Jose-Fernandez-Kids-Jersey/ . - Vince Wilfork has played only two career games in Kansas City. Martin Prado Jersey . -- Josh Smith made a 3-pointer as time expired and finished with 20 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 99-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in both teams exhibition finale. Cameron Maybin Jersey . There were no real chances until Augsburg broke the deadlock through Raul Bobadilla in the 33rd minute. Frankfurt failed to clear a cross and Bobadilla slotted home from close range at the far post. ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Carson Palmer went to bed a retired football player resigned to the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals would never grant his wish to be traded. He woke up to a text message early Tuesday morning telling him to fly to Oakland to complete a trade with the Raiders, who are counting on Palmer to replace the injured Jason Campbell and lead the team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. "Its been a whirlwind," Palmer said. "I understand whats expected of me. I know what playing quarterback is about, and its about winning. I want to come in a contribute and do whatever I can to help this team." The Raiders are hoping he can do a lot, having traded a 2012 first-round pick and a conditional second-rounder in 2013 that can become another first if Oakland makes it to the AFC title game in either of the next two years. Coach Hue Jackson believes Palmer is the ideal fit, having recruited and coached him at Southern California and been an assistant in Cincinnati with Palmer. Jackson said Palmer has the strong arm and athleticism that late Raiders owner Al Davis always wanted in a quarterback. "This guy can play and he knows how to play the game and he knows how to elevate the players around him," Jackson said. "Theres no question you go on offence as good as your quarterback is. I think hes one of the best and thats why hes on this football team now. I didnt bring him here because he was just a guy sitting out there. I brought him here because I think he can help this team win a championship." The Bengals had been adamant about not trading Palmer, who wanted to be dealt from a team that has had only two winning records in the past 20 years. Owner Mike Brown repeatedly insisted he wouldnt consider Palmers request for a trade because he didnt want to reward him for holding out. He changed his mind after getting the big offer from the Raiders. Brown said the play of rookie quarterback Andy Dalton made it easier to trade Palmer. "We also find ourselves rather suddenly in position of being able to receive real value for Carson that can measurably improve our team, which is performing well and is showing real promise for this year and years to come," he said in a statement. "When this opportunity arose, we felt we could not let it pass and needed to take a step forward with the football team if we could." The Raiders (4-2) became desperate for a quarterback after Campbell broke his collarbone during a win over the Browns on Sunday. Campbell had surgery Monday and was expected to miss at least six weeks, leaving the Raiders with only Kyle Boller and Terrelle Pryor on the roster. Jacksons mantra all season has been "the time is now," and he backed that up by dealing for Palmer. The Raiders also renegotiated Palmers contract, giving him a US$2.5-million guaranteed deal for the rest of this season, $12.5 million with $5 million guaranteed in 2012, $13 million in 2013 and $15 million in 2014. Palmer had been working out in Southern California,, trying to stay in shape and throwing to former teammate T.ddddddddddddJ. Houshmandzadeh and high school players. He hoped the work would pay off with another chance in the NFL, but he did not know. "There was a number of times that there were teams approaching the Bengals and it didnt work out, so it was a very difficult time," Palmer said. "I didnt know what was going to happen. I didnt know what was around the next turn, the next week, the next month. So there was a lot of confusion and I really didnt know what was next." Palmer said it will take some time to learn the offence, build chemistry with his receivers and get back into football shape. Oakland hosts Kansas City on Sunday but Jackson would not say whether Palmer would start. While Palmer has not played or practised since last season, he has a history with Jackson, who was his offensive co-ordinator for two years at USC and the wide receivers coach for three seasons in Cincinnati. Jackson was with the Bengals when Palmer had his best season in 2005 when he threw for 3,836 yards with 32 touchdown passes and a 101.1 rating while leading the team to an AFC North title. Palmer tore up his left knee during a playoff loss to Pittsburgh that season. He came back and had two solid seasons before partially tearing a ligament and tendon in his passing elbow during the 2008 season. He has not been an elite quarterback since, despite getting back to the playoffs in 2009. Palmer said he is completely healthy now. Over the past two years, Palmer completed 61.2 per cent of his passes for 7,064 yards, 47 touchdowns, 33 interceptions and a passer rating of 82.9 while posting a 14-18 record. Those numbers are comparable to what Campbell has done since the start of the 2009 season. But the Raiders were not willing to trust their playoff chances with Boller, who had not started a game since 2009 and had lost his previous 10 starts since October 2007, or Pryor, a project who will need time before he can be an NFL quarterback. This is the second trade the Raiders have made since Davis death. They dealt last week for former No. 4 overall pick in 2009, linebacker Aaron Curry from Seattle. The trade leaves the Raiders with picks only in the fifth and sixth rounds in next years draft. They traded their second-rounder during Aprils draft to New England for the picks to draft offensive lineman Joe Barksdale and running back Taiwan Jones. They used their third-rounder to take Pryor in the supplemental draft in August. They traded their fourth-rounder in 2010 to get Campbell and the seventh-rounder for Curry. "I know a lot of people think weve mortgaged the future of the organization," Jackson said. "I dont see it that way. I mean, I dont think you ever mortgage the future of an organization when youre putting a real big-time franchise quarterback on your team." Oakland is expecting to get compensatory picks after losing Nnamdi Asomugha, Zach Miller, Robert Gallery, Thomas Howard and Bruce Gradkowski in free agency. 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