(SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago Bulls are playing great basketball and will try to continue the momentum Christmas night when they host the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bulls have won four straight and seven of their last eight. Chicago has also taken four consecutive home contests, and its recent run has been extremely impressive considering the competition. The Bulls started this win streak with a home victory over the New York Knicks, then knocked off the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Chicago defeated the Toronto Raptors, and, on Tuesday, toppled the Wizards in Washington, 99-91. Derrick Rose scored 25 points in the Bulls win over the Wiz. Rose shot a combined 12-for-35 in the two games before missing two with an illness. Since his return, the former MVP has been lights out in a pair of crucial wins over two Eastern Conference contenders. Rose scored 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting against Toronto on Monday and hit 10-for-17 in Washington on Tuesday. His personal 6-0 run late in the game helped the Bulls extend the best road record in the East to 13-4. Rose won the battle of elite point guards as John Wall finished with 18 points and nine assists. Theyre both dynamic players, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said about Rose and Wall. Hard to guard, transition, pick and rolls. Both are unselfish and make the right play. Pau Gasol had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls. Aaron Brooks managed 13 points off the bench, followed by 12 out of Taj Gibson. Jimmy Butler, who had been on a tear, cooled a bit with 11 points and Joakim Noah grabbed 11 rebounds. Gasol will face his former team for the first time since signing with the Bulls in the offseason. The Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak in an unlikely fashion. LA beat the Golden State Warriors, the team with the NBAs best record, on Tuesday night and did so without the services of Kobe Bryant, who was sitting for rest. Bryant, of course, has been used heavily in his 19th NBA season, and given his usage rate and his recent struggles, head coach Byron Scott opted to give the veteran a maintenance day. Bryants status for Christmas night is unknown. The Lakers built a huge lead by shooting 56.5 percent over the first three quarters and held on for a surprising win. Thats exactly what we needed with that type of effort and energy, Scott said. We just went out and played...and had confidence that we could make plays. Carlos Boozer led seven Los Angeles players in double figures with 18 points and added nine rebounds. Ronnie Price contributed 17 points and eight assists, Nick Young added 15 points, and Wesley Johnson and Ed Davis chipped in with 14 apiece. Wayne Ellington finished with 12 points and Jeremy Lin added 11. The Bulls have won two straight over the Lakers and five of their last six. The teams have split the last eight meetings in Chicago, although the Bulls have won two in a row. Jason Kidd Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Josh McRoberts Jersey . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. http://www.officialmavericksfanstore.com...vericks-jersey/. The Red Wings hadnt played the night before. The Boston Bruins had. A month from now, or two months from now, it doesnt matter. But right now it does matter, when you start and you play back to back, its wear and tear on you for sure, Babcock said. Dallas Mavericks Jersey . Smith has spent the last three seasons with the Rockies, playing both left and right field, and has a .275 batting average with 51 homers and 181 RBIs in 487 major league games. Dirk Nowitzki Jersey . - Erick Torres scored his 10th goal of the season on a stunning volley, and Chivas USA edged 10-man Real Salt Lake 1-0 on Saturday night.NEW YORK – Edwin Encarnacions strained right quadriceps isnt progressing as quickly as he, the Blue Jays and the clubs starved-for-a-winner fanbase is hoping. "Eddie had a little setback in Florida,” said manager John Gibbons before Saturdays game at Yankee Stadium. “Hes a little bit tender so were going to back him off for a few days.” Encarnacion was injured three weeks ago, July 5, in Oakland as he beat out an RBI fielders choice groundball in the first inning of an eventual loss to the Athletics. As he was running to first base, Encarnacion felt a pop in his quadriceps. One stride beyond the bag, he crumpled to the ground and required the assistance of trainers George Poulis and Mike Frostad to leave the field. A day later, he was placed on the disabled list after an MRI revealed what Encarnacion reported to be a Grade-2 strain. Thats an injury which typically requires a six-week recovery period. Encarnacion is halfway to six weeks. Which begs the question, was it a setback? He felt the tightness while swinging a bat. “He was feeling it when he was twisting, the torque in his swing,” said Gibbons. The Blue Jays are legitimate contenders, thanks to the weakened state of the American League East and to the existence of a second wild card spot, for the first time in more than two decades. Without Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie and Adam Lind, the club is missing one-third of its starting lineup and three bats who typically hit in the middle of the order. The offence, predictably, has struggled as a result and there is now desperation to get the injured players back. Neither Encarnacion, nor the club can be blamed. A player with a muscle injury wont know how well hes coming along until he tests it. Encarnacion found out the hard way that hes not ready yet. Theres no timetable for his return. REIMOLD PROGRESSING There is one injured Blue Jay who is getting close to returning. Outfielder Nolan Reimold, who strained his left calf on July 11 in Tampa Bay and who is eligible to come off the disabled list on Sunday, will be back soon. &lddquo;Within the next few days,” said manager John Gibbons.dddddddddddd “Hes probably feeling better than any of them.” Gibbons said its unlikely Reimold would need a mino- league rehabilitation assignment, so long as his return is in the next few days. MORROW BOUND FOR FLORIDA When his teammates leave after Sundays game for Boston, Brandon Morrow will head in the opposite direction, destined for the clubs facilities in Dunedin, Florida. Its the next step in his rehab of a torn tendon sheath in the right index finger. Earlier this week, Morrow was up on a mound for the first time in more than two-and-a-half months. “I threw my first bullpen off a mound two days ago and threw again yesterday and it felt fine,” said Morrow. “Just nice and easy, nothing too aggressive, but I was throwing all my pitches, spinning the ball and everything felt good.” Morrow still wraps supportive tape around his finger, but takes it off to throw the baseball. Hell throw more bullpen sessions in Florida over the next 10 days and progress to throwing live batting practice, followed by a simulated game. Expect Morrows return, if all goes well, to be in the final month of the season. Hell likely work out of the bullpen. SHIFT DISTURBING Colby Rasmus had a frustrating Friday night. He hit two balls hard, but both went for outs because the Yankees had their infielders perfectly placed in exaggerated shifts. “Its all about love and luck in this game,” said Rasmus. “Youve still got to hit it past those defensive players. Sometimes it looks like there are 100 of them out ther,e but thats all part of it and hopefully I can just continue what Im doing and theyll start falling.” Rasmus hit a line drive to rightfield off Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda in the fourth inning. Second baseman Brian Roberts was roving and made a nice leaping catch. In his next at-bat, Rasmus smoked a liner up the middle, just to the right of the second base bag. There stood third baseman Chase Headley, who didnt have to move to make the catch. 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