Adding more hope to their dream of a long-awaited return to the NBA winner's circle, the New York Knicks enjoyed a role reversal night against the once-mighty Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

The Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 83-72 in an ill-tempered and physical encounter between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference on Thursday.

Randy Foye landed a career-high eight three-pointers as the Los Angeles Clippers scored a commanding 94-75 rout of the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Monday in a potential first-round playoff clash.

Yao Ming, who ignited China's interest in the NBA and became one of Asia's best-known athletes, announced his retirement from basketball on Wednesday.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, one of the biggest names in contemporary basketball, has announced his retirement from the National Basketball Association, according to several media reports on Friday.

Indian tennis duo Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna got a photo op with Miami Heat's star Dwayne Wade.

Notorious slow starter Li Na seems to produce her best tennis teetering on the brink of defeat but the Chinese hopes to hit the ground running against Kim Clijsters in Saturday's Australian Open final.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic has been acquired by the New Jersey Nets in a three-team trade that sent Nets guard-forward Terrence Williams to the Houston Rockets, the NBA teams said on Wednesday.

The 48-year-old Texan faces charges related to lying to the US Congress about using performance-enhancing drugs, and if convicted on all charges could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.

Some of the promoters who had reportedly paid anything between $500, 000 to $1 million for each show were upset that tickets were not moving fast enough.

With an instrument on board India's lunar mission Chandryaan discovering water molecules on the Moon, scientists are now confident of harvesting water from the lunar surface in the future, which could help sustain lunar astronauts and even propel missions to Mars.

China's 110m hurdles world champion Liu Xiang could be back on the running track in May after successful foot surgery in the United States, local media reported on Monday. The 2004 Olympic gold medallist, who was robbed of the chance of defending his title in Beijing in August by injury, underwent a three-hour operation on his damaged right Achilles' tendon in Houston last Friday.

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.

China's Premier Wen Jiabao has urged the men's national basketball team to "win honor for the motherland" during the Beijing Olympics. Wen turned up at a team practice session on Sunday, shaking hands with coaches and players, including China's favorite sportsman Yao Ming, who plays for the NBA's Houston Rockets.

Nike and Adidas battle for Beijing. At stake: the 21st century sportswear industry.

Having conquered the moon long time ago, the NASA now plans to send astronauts to Mars -- in what is called a journey which will cover hundreds of millions of miles and no less than two-and-a-half years of roundtrip.The way to Mars, it seems, is through the moon, says a report in CBS News.

Reader Akshay Kumar Rumalla sent us this picture from Houston.

Williams, 41, is also set to break astronaut Shannon Lucid's record for the longest stay in space ever by a woman -- 188 days and 4 hours -- on June 16, three days before Atlantis brings her back to Earth.

The forecast for Friday morning is for light winds and a zero per cent chance of weather prohibiting the loading of propellants into the external tank.

The city also proclaimed March 14 Julie Zachariah Day in her honor.

LeBron James scored a season-high 37 points to inspire the Cavaliers to a 114-99 win over the Washington Wizards

Dwyane Wade scored 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists as the Miami Heat defused the Houston Rockets 88-84.

Space shuttle Discovery began its return to earth as pilot Jim Kelly fired the orbital manoeuvring systems that will put the spacecraft in a trajectory to land here at around 1742 IST. \n\n

Tracy McGrady scored 37 points as the Houston Rockets fought back from three losses to beat the Dallas Mavericks 101-83 in the NBA playoffs on Thursday.

Dallas Mavericks held off the Houston Rockets 103-100 to claim a 3-2 series lead in their Western Conference quarter-final playoff.

Gilbert Arenas scored 32 points to lead the Wizards to a 117-99 home win over the Chicago Bulls.

The Heat can complete the first-round sweep by winning Game Four on Sunday.

Vince Carter scored 37 points to help the New Jersey Nets clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 102-93 win over the Boston Celtics.\n

Tracy McGrady recorded 22 points and David Wesley added 21 as the Houston Rockets ended an 11-game losing streak in Sacramento with a 111-96 victory over the Kings Sunday.

Boston Celtics registered a 115-113 double overtime win over the Detroit Pistons.

Tracy McGrady scored 32 points as the Rockets soared to an easy 90-69 win over the short-handed Dallas Mavericks.

League scoring leader Allen Iverson poured in 48 points to lead the Philadelphia 76rers to a 118-111 win over the Bucks in Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Jalen Rose scored 26 points as the Toronto Raptors upset the Los Angeles Lakers 108-102.

Jalen Rose scored 30 points and played solid defence against former Toronto favourite Vince Carter to guide the Raptors to a 100-82 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas picked up 30 points and LeBron James added 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to help the Cleveland Cavaliers pound the Los Angeles Lakers 103-89 Sunday.