Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hoists the we-love-a-challenge flag in embracing this trip. At this point, every facet of Heat Culture is being leaned on.

“We’re looking forward to it. It will be a great environment,” Spoelstra said. “Philly has been playing fantastic recently. So we know what to expect up there. That is what we say: It’s for competitors only. It should be a lot of fun. I feel good about the group. That’s all I wanted to see these last couple of games. I just wanted to feel it. I know my team, I know the locker room. I can sense that the group is ready. That’s all you can ask for.”

The path from here is brutal.

It was last year, when Miami survived the play-in round and then unexpectedly mowed through Milwaukee, New York and Boston before falling to Denver in the Finals.

The path is brutal again. That’s what makes this Heat regular season so frustrating. In the tightly bunched East two games is the difference between play-in purgatory and fourth place — which would have meant home-court advantage in the first round.

Now, instead, this is Miami’s path:

— If the Heat win Wednesday: Miami would claim the No. 7 playoff seed and meet the No. 2 New York Knicks in the opening round.

— If the Heat lose Wednesday: Miami would face a must-win home game Friday night vs. the Atlanta-Chicago winner for the No. 8 seed and the dubious right to meet mighty Boston in the first round.

Beating Philly on Wednesday — i.e., avoiding Boston in the first round — is itself a mammoth task.

“You don’ want to play Philadelphia,” as ESPN analyst Tim Legler says. “Obviously Jimmy Butler has a playoff track record, but Philly with Joel Embiid back is so unique. Miami has the track record of flipping the switch [in the postseason]. I don’t think that happens this year.”

Legler alluded to last year and “Playoff Jimmy.” Butler averaged 28.5 points in the first three rounds — including an insane 37.4 vs. the Bucks in the opening round.

But can he do it again? Miami will need him to. Butler is 34 now, and coming off a 20.8 scoring season that was his lowest in four years. Can he do it again?

In equal parts it is a lot to ask, and to expect.

“I feel like everybody is confident. Everybody is decently healthy for the most part,” says Butler. “We just got to go out there and hoop, man.”

What the Heat did from this spot last season won’t happen again. It can’t ... right?

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