The Chicago Bulls continue to thrive in the absence of league MVP Derrick Rose and cemented their place at the top of the Eastern Conference with a suffocating 85-59 road win over the Orlando Magic on Monday.

The Chicago Bulls recovered from a sluggish start to race past the Philadelphia 76ers for an 89-80 victory at the United Center on Saturday.

Mike Woodson did not have long to wait for his first win as new coach of the New York Knicks as his team trampled the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday to end a six-game losing streak.

The heady days of 'Linsanity' are fading further from New York fans' memories after the Knicks slumped to their sixth straight defeat with a 104-99 loss to the NBA-best Chicago Bulls on Monday.

Derrick Rose made an immediate impact on his return to the Chicago Bulls lineup on Monday as last season's Most Valuable Player scored a game-high 23 points in a 90-79 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.

The New Jersey Nets snapped an eight-game losing streak with a surprisingly easy 97-85 road win over the Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Saturday.

The Chicago Bulls defended strongly before going on to stun the Boston Celtics with a late offensive burst to pave an 89-80 victory at the United Center on Thursday.

LeBron James helped Miami finally find a way past the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring 35 points in the Heat's 114-96 victory on Monday.

The Miami Heat inched closer to top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 107-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) reaches to score over New Jersey Nets center Johan Petro in the second quarter of their NBA basketball game in Newark, New Jersey on Monday night.

Derrick Rose took over scoring duties late in the game to ensure the surging Chicago Bulls held off the New York Knicks to record a 105-102 victory at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

US basketball legend Michael Jordan is engaged to his long-time girlfriend Yvette Prieto, his spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Lakers continued their stumbling start to a new era with a 100-91 road loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday as the visitors matched their poorest opening to a campaign for nine years.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant tore a ligament in his right wrist in Monday's preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers and is considered day-to-day, the National Basketball Association club said on Wednesday.

The National Basketball Association does not yet have a ratified labor agreement but the league moved full speed ahead on Tuesday by announcing a provisional schedule.

Joakim Noah is considering a move to the French League if the NBA season is cancelled because of the lockout, the Chicago Bulls center said on Thursday.

Financialised masses not only provide feedstock inputs but are also voters whose political support for funded savings cannot be taken for granted, says Ajit Balakrishnan.

Ice cold for three quarters of Thursday's Game Five, Dwyane Wade caught fire in the fourth and led Miami to an 83-80 win over Chicago that put the Heat in the NBA Finals.

The Dallas Mavericks overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to reach the NBA finals for only the second time with a 100-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday. Dallas clinched the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals series by a 4-1 margin with the thrilling Game Five win and will face either the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls in the NBA finals.

The Mavericks lead the West Conference finals series 3-1 and can secure a place in the championship game against the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls, with a victory in game five in Dallas Wednesday.

Chris Bosh scored 34 points and LeBron James added 22 as Miami Heat beat Chicago Bulls 96-85 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday night. Miami now leads 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

LeBron James produced some more fourth-quarter magic to propel the Miami Heat to a scrappy 85-75 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, evening their NBA Eastern Conference final at a game each.

Chicago's defence stifled LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to set-up an easy 103-82 victory over the Miami Heat in the opening game of their Eastern Conference Finals series on Sunday.

The Chicago Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1998 with a series-clinching 93-73 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.

The Chicago Bulls produced a stingy fourth quarter defensive effort to beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-83 on Tuesday, which gave them a 3-2 Eastern Conference semi-final series lead. The Bulls held the Hawks to just 15 points in the fourth quarter to regain control of a game they had led for much of the first three quarters.

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls was voted the 2010-11 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. Rose, who does not turn 23 until October 4, becomes the league's youngest MVP, a distinction previously held by Wes Unseld, who earned the honor in 1968-69 as a 23-year-old.

The Dallas Mavericks overcame a 16-point deficit and an aggressive Kobe Bryant to steal Game One of their second round playoff series with a last-second 96-94 triumph on Monday.

The Chicago Bulls continued their rapid ascent through the Eastern Conference by defeating the injury-depleted Washington Wizards 87-80 on Wednesday for their ninth victory in their last 10 games.

LeBron James announced on Thursday he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh at the Miami Heat next season, ending one of the biggest transfer sagas in U.S professional sports.

LeBron James has made at least one decision, just not the one the basketball world had been waiting for.

With Melbourne, Australia has taken the first step to join the ranks of yesteryear Pretoria, South Africa and Birmingham, Alabama. Over the last two years, there have been an increasing number of attacks on Indians here. Lives have been lost or severe injuries inflicted upon members of an unarmed, peaceful Indian community.

Hall of Famer Michael Jordan has agreed to buy a controlling interest in the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, majority owner Bob Johnson said on Saturday. Johnson said further details would come from the NBA. Owners of the NBA's 29 other franchises must approve the sale.

There are plenty of special effects inside the O2 Arena for the ATP Tour Finals but nothing could match the sight of Roger Federer in full flow as he beat Andy Murray on Tuesday to guarantee the year-end No 1 ranking.

The New York Knicks are the most valuable professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association for the fourth consecutive year, Forbes magazine reported on Wednesday. The Knicks' estimated value is US $613 million, up $5 million from last year's list, according to the magazine.

Rediff.com had sought readers' views on the US presidential election. Here are some responses.

Neera Tanden, 38, one of Senator Hillary Clinton's closest aides and confidantes, has joined the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and will relocate to the campaign headquarters in Chicago this week. Sources told rediff.com that unlike Clinton's former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who was pushed out of the campaign and then jumped on the Obama campaign bandwagon, Clinton backed Tanden's decision to join the Democratic presidential nominee

Trading in commodity futures -- basically an arena of stock market players -- may have started with economic objectives such as price discovery and price risk management, but, of late, has become an important part of investment portfolio promising quick and attractive returns. In fact, stock marketing and futures trading are the main instruments of speculation in the capitalist economy in which the capital is invested and reinvested with a sole purpose of making a profit.

Here is an astonishing fact: on December 10 1998, the spot price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude was exactly $10 and ninety eight cents. Nearly 10 years and one thousand and sixty two per cent later, it is time to ask some impolite questions about oil. Impolite questions are not always obvious questions, though.

Jim Rogers, expert financial consultant, predicts a US recession in the near future and advises sound investment in agriculture.

Turning tail from its worst valuation ever on the world's currency markets, the US Dollar has now gained more than 3% since the start of November.