East Notes: Heat, Terry Rozier, Pistons, Wizards

Heat

Guard Terry Rozier made his Heat debut … and then came an ugly 105-96 home loss to a vastly undermanned Grizzlies team that is likely headed for the NBA Draft lottery.

Miami (24-20) has now lost four straight. Rozier, acquired in a trade with the Hornets, finished with nine points on 3-of-11 shooting.

“We know things are not going to be perfect right away,” Rozier told reporters. “You see the assessment of the team and see how things are going. But I feel like I fit the Heat culture and I’m coming right in to pick things up on the defensive side and let everything else take care of itself. We’re all basketball players, so we’ll figure it out.”

• The Heat trailed just 98-96 with 2:01 left, but never scored again. “It’s just one of these periods of time in an NBA season that’s funky,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I can’t even explain it. … There were a lot of uncharacteristic plays offensively.”

Pistons

Sometimes, all you need is to close a game to see that you can actually do it. That’s the story for the Pistons, who did exactly that in their 113-106 home win over the Hornets on Wednesday.

“Yesterday, we talked about competing, poise and execution,” coach Monty Williams told reporters. “We had done those three things, but we hadn’t closed. Tonight, we closed.”

• Detroit (5-39) won for just the third time in 41 games. Forward Bojan Bogdanovic led the way with 34 points. Guard/forward Alec Burks added 15. Both are considered trade candidates.

Wizards

The Wizards have just one victory over a team with a winning record, and that didn’t change in Wednesday’s 118-107 home loss to the Timberwolves.

“They’re a handful. … They were very aggressive in the paint,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “It was the volume of points in the paint. Some of it was transition, some of it was offensive rebounds, some of it was just post-ups.”

• Forward Deni Avdija scored a season-high 24 points in the loss. Washington (7-36) has lost five straight, its fourth such skid of the season. Yeah, trades are probably on the way.
• That said, it appears the Wizards aren’t looking to move Kyle Kuzma before the Feb. 8 deadline. We have that full post here.