Heat’s prime path to seeding success? Vanquishing the Pistons and Wizards (starting Tuesday)

MIAMI — Listen to Erik Spoelstra before any game against any opponent, and you would think the ultimate challenge is at hand.

The Miami Heat’s remaining schedule, though, might beg to differ.

Entering Monday, the Heat had the second softest remaining strength of schedule, with opponents with a .450 winning percentage. Only Boston’s remaining .442 opponent winning percentage is lower.

But where it gets sobering is that the soft Heat schedule does not necessarily mean a steady stream of bottom feeders.

Instead, it is a case of the haves and have-nots, with the relatively simple blueprint for success: Beat the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards.

Of the Heat’s 22 remaining games, five are against the Pistons or Wizards, 22.7% of what remains.

Detroit and Washington each entered the week 9-51.

By contrast, even with what the percentages say is a soft close for Spoelstra and the Heat, 12 of the Heat’s other 17 remaining games are against teams with winning records (the other exceptions being two games against the Toronto Raptors to close the season at Kaseya Center, and one apiece against the Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets, the latter two on the road).

As soft a spot as it appears in the schedule, that makes Tuesday night against Detroit at Kaseya Center go-time, as will be the case with the other four combined games against Pistons (both in Detroit) and the Wizards (one in Miami, one in Washington).

On one hand, the Heat are 3-0 against those two opponents this season. On the other, all three of the victories have been by single digits.

The Pistons enter with losses in eight of their past 10, compared to the Heat with victories in 10 of their past 13, with the Heat 20-8 this season against opponents with losing records (as opposed to 14-18 against teams at .500 or better).

To Spoelstra, the competitive pack in the middle of the Eastern Conference makes every game essential.

“We have a lot of work to do to make sure we get in,” he said.

While the Pistons have been competitive in recent games, they clearly also have shifted their focus to beyond the moment at hand. In addition to dealing Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks to the New York Knicks at the Feb. 8 trading deadline, they since then have waived or bought out Killian Hayes, Joe Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Danuel House Jr., Ryan Arcidiacono, Malcolm Cazalon and Mike Muscala.