Los Angeles  - The Chicago Bulls made Derrick Rose the first pick in the NBA Draft last June, and came up smelling like roses as the talented point guard bloomed as tops in his class.

Rose was named the NBA's Rookie of the Year, after leading the Bulls into the playoffs, the league announced on Wednesday.

"When I first came into the season my biggest thing was to get this award," Rose said. "I was telling you all that I wasn't caring about it, but when you're coming in, you really do want this award. It shows how much work you have put into it."

Los Angeles  - Disney released a new nature documentary on Wednesday in a move designed to mark Earth Day and recall the company's pioneering efforts to bring wildlife movies to the masses from the 1940s on with its True-Life Adventure films.

The new movie, entitled Earth, follows the fortunes of three animal families - a mother polar bear and her cubs in the Arctic, a family of elephants on the edges of the Kalahari Desert and the adventures of a humpback whale and her calf as they undertake a 6,500-kilometre migration.

Los Angeles - Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the NBA's new secretary of defense in a landslide decision.

Howard was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, after becoming the fifth player in league history to finish tops in rebounds and blocked shots.

"To be the defensive player of the year at 23 is remarkable," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "To be a great defensive player usually comes later in a career. And he still has so much room for improvement."

Los Angeles  - NBA champions Boston Celtics said Tuesday that they had lost backup forward Leon Powe for the rest of the season because of injury.

Tests revealed that Powe suffered a torn ligament in his left knee during the first half of Monday night's 118-115 victory over the Chicago Bulls in game two of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

"Leon has an ACL tear and meniscus," Celtics coach Doc Rivers told the Boston Globe. "He's obviously out for the playoffs. Surgery will be determined when it's determined. So, obviously a tough break."

Los Angeles- Ray Allen shot himself out of a shooting slump by hitting the Bulls right between the eyes when it mattered the most.

Allen fired in the tie-breaking three-pointer with two seconds left, giving the Boston Celtics a dramatic 118-115 victory over the pesky Chicago Bulls on Monday night, and squaring their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at one-game apiece.

Los Angeles  - Mike Brown, who guided the Cleveland Cavaliers to a league and franchise-best 66-win season, was named on Monday the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy, honouring the NBA Coach of the Year.

Brown received 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters to easily outdistance Houston's Rick Adelman (151), Orlando's Stan Van Gundy (150) and Portland's Nate McMillan (127 points).

"Mike Brown is a critical element as to why our franchise is growing into the kind of success we all envisioned and hoped to achieve," Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert said.