NEW ORLEANS _ The path to optimizing playoff seeding comes in duplicate, and in one case, triplicate, for the Miami Heat.
In many ways, a lot of bad is headed their way.
Of the Heat's 19 remaining games, nine of them come in sets against teams effectively eliminated from the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Two games apiece remain _ one at home, one on the road _ against the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons. Three games are left _ two on the road, one at home _ against the Charlotte Hornets, starting Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Of course, there already has been a regrettable loss to the Knicks, and, as the Heat have recently shown with losses to two other teams at the bottom of the East _ the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers _ there are no givens.
Still, there likely aren't many other teams the Heat would prefer (if candid) to see on their schedule, a schedule that is balanced with the reality of similar pairs of remaining games against the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics, as well remaining single meetings with the Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors.
Take the Hornets, who effectively waved the white flag at the buyout deadline with the waiving of Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
In addition, there was an interview this past week with the Charlotte Observer about forward Nicolas Batum that carried the headline, "Nic Batum would like to apologize. He knows he's an overpaid Hornets cheerleader."
In that piece, Batum said of the five-year, $120 million contract he signed during the 2016 offseason, "I apologize to the people here, because they put so much faith in me. And it didn't go well."
Think the Hornets don't want to get this over as soon as possible?
Then there are the Knicks, who this past week somehow managed to chase Spike Lee from their fandom after he had willingly endured so much in recent decades.
After being admonished for entering Madison Square Garden through the wrong door, he even invoked one of the Heat's iconic fans.
"Doesn't happen to Drake (in Toronto)," Lee said in an ESPN rebuke of Knicks owner James Dolan. "You go down the line, Jimmy Buffett in Miami. Nowhere."
And who is the latest to ride to the rescue in New York? That would be former agent Leon Rose, who at one point was part of the representation of Heat Big Three Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and a week ago helped coordinate Wade's jersey-retirement weekend by the Heat.
As for the Bulls, sort of like it was when Wade and Jimmy Butler were feuding with former coach Fred Hoiberg.
Only now it is coaching successor Jim Boylen taking a hard line that drew recent push-back from Zach LaVine.
"We've got to be tougher," Boylen is insisting.
Not exactly willing to bend.
"I'm coaching my team, let me coach my team," he told assembled media.
And the Pistons? They were sellers with Andre Drummond at the NBA trading deadline, gave away Reggie Jackson and Markieff Morris at the buyout deadline. They already had been without Blake Griffin due to a season-ending knee surgery, and now likely are to be without Derrick Rose the rest of the way due to an ankle issue.
So, yes, the Hornets, Knicks, Bulls and Pistons are exactly the type of double vision you want to see at this point of the season, with the Heat to see the first three of those teams this week.
Those games either will ease the road to the playoffs ... or expose an inability to learn from the recent losses.
