Adelman

HOUSTON -- Joe Smith was talking with his uncle late Thursday in his hotel room about his NBA debut for the Golden State Warriors. It was then that Willie Brown brought up his nephew's last official debut."

LANDOVER -- In town for last night's game with the Washington Bullets, Joe Smith wanted to make the most of his return home. The former Terrapin stopped by for the last few minutes of Maryland's practice yesterday, talking with his old teammates and coach Gary Williams.He then drew a loud applause at USAir Arena last night before scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds, despite a bruised right hip, in the Warriors' 115-94 loss to the Bullets. Afterward, he spent time with friends and family members up from Norfolk, Va."

The Houston Rockets' 20th straight win was far from pretty, but coach Rick Adelman was still impressed with his team. The Rockets were held to their lowest first-half total of the season but pulled away late to become the third team in NBA history to win 20 consecutive games, tying for the league's second-longest winning streak with an 83-75 victory over the host Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. "It may be the ugliest thing we've done, but it might have been the best one," Adelman said, "the way we fought through it."

Depending on the whims of Charlotte Bobcats coach/president Bernie Bickerstaff, something remarkable could happen on the NBA sidelines this offseason. Nothing. A league that changes coaches more often than the Heat changes playoff color schemes could wind up returning each of the 30 who ended the season on the bench. Almost all of those in the most tenuous positions - from Golden State's Mike Montgomery to Atlanta's Mike Woodson to Toronto's Sam Mitchell to Minnesota's Dwane Casey to Seattle's Bob Hill - have received recent votes of confidence.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Second-year player Cliff Robinson matched his career high with 22 points last night and led the Portland Trail Blazers to a 123-99 National Basketball Association victory over the Washington Bullets.It was Portland's 18th win at home in 20 games this season and raised the Blazers' record against Atlantic Division opponents to 6-0.Robinson, starting in place of injured Buck Williams, made 10 of 19 shots from the field and equaled the total he had twice last season. He played only 29 minutes, as coach Rick Adelman used reserves through most of the second half.

NEW YORK -- A federal judge in Wisconsin ordered Chevy Chase Bank to rescind loans made to some borrowers who took out so-called option adjustable-rate mortgages, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The ruling was in a case against the Maryland-based bank brought by Susan and Bryan Andrews, who took out an option ARM in the belief that a 1.95 percent introductory rate was fixed for five years. Two months later, they received a statement showing the rate had risen to 4.375 percent, the newspaper said.

Atlanta-- Recently, Susan and Glenn Flugman made an exciting discovery about McDonald's "Chicken McNuggets" and their son Travis, 4, who still isn't toilet trained."

TORONTO -- Joe Smith bumped into Rasheed Wallace in between television interviews."The No. 1 pick!" Wallace cried as he slapped Smith's hand. "I told you, 'You're the man!' "Smith was the man, all right, in a way he never was before, in a way he never will be again, even if he's an NBA All-Star for 15 years.His mother, Letha, signed autographs, "Joe's mom." His sister, Sharon, signed autographs, "Joe's sister."The tears started flowing in the green room the instant NBA commissioner David Stern called Smith's name at SkyDome.

LANDOVER -- Joe Smith wanted his return home to be special, and for a while it was.His former Maryland Terrapins teammates rushed over to talk with him when he visited their practice yesterday. His family came from Norfolk, Va., to watch him play and nearly 19,000 fans cheered loudly when the Golden State Warriors rookie was introduced before last night's game at USAir Arena. But Washington Bullets forward Chris Webber had a different greeting in mind.Five days after Smith scored 27 points against Webber in a Warriors win, Webber scored 40 points while Smith was held to 15."

Fire officials probe blaze that destroyed houseFire investigators were trying to determine the cause yesterday of a two-alarm fire that destroyed a house in the 200 block of Newberry Road in Berrywood Sunday night.The blaze, which apparently began in the garage and raged out of control for nearly an hour, caused more than $300,000 in damage to the house.Lt. Robert Kornmann, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, said Harry Adelman Jr. and his wife, Linda, were at home when the fire broke out around 8:30 p.m., but escaped unharmed.