Things may not be exactly looking up for the Miami Heat, but with the easiest remaining schedule in the league, there's reason for optimism heading into the remainder of the season.
Short of a big NBA Trade Deadline move, the Heat are unlikely to make the leap toward contender status, but with an easy schedule in the second half of the year, Miami is within striking distance of breaking out of a Play-In spot in the East.
With 38 games left in their schedule, the Heat's opponents have a combined .463 winning percentage. That's the easiest in the league. Their remaining slate includes four games against the Washington Wizards, and two against Brooklyn, Utah, and Charlotte each.
If the Heat can "take care of business" over the second half of the year, and beat teams they're supposed to be on paper, they could make a move up a weak Eastern Conference.
The Heat has feasted on "bad" teams this season
While the Heat has not been exceptionally great this year, they have been good against "bad" teams. Through the first half of this season, the Heat are 14-3 against teams at or below .500 this season. If that does continue to carry over, you'd imagine Miami could "get fat" with a softer schedule heading into the push for the playoffs.
As inconsistent as the Heat have been this season, Miami is still just two games back of the sixth seed and three games back of the third seed. Even if the Heat didn't make a bold move at the trade deadline, there's reason to believe that they could still make a beeline up the beat-up East before the playoffs.
And with a soft schedule, would it be that surprising if that's the way things played out in the second half of the season? You'd have to like the Heat's chances of doing so even more if they can find a way to get healthy.
Even though it's somewhat of a cop-out excuse, injuries have played a big part in the Heat's struggles this season. If they can find a way to flip the narrative on the injury front, the Heat could be in line to get back on track down the stretch. And if they could string a six or seven-game-winning streak together, or even win eight of 10, they'd be right back in the conversation for a top-five seed in the East.
It's easy not to feel great about where the Heat are and have been over the last couple of months, but things could quickly change for them as their schedule begins to ease up in the second half of the year. And, perhaps, it could be the one thing that flips the narrative for the team heading into the offseason.