The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered crucial losses to several key players throughout their series against the Denver Nuggets, a series they won in six games, but it seemed like nothing slowed them down, even when the odds looked stacked against them.

Their greatest strength throughout this season has been their belief in themselves and their belief in each other. They're a young, energetic team and with that energy comes confidence and self-assurance. It's part of what informs their brand of basketball, which thrives on excitement, and it's also what came through for them against Denver.

Even when the results didn't always show up on the floor throughout the season, the Timberwolves were never discouraged and always kept moving forward. Those qualities helped them not just outlast the Nuggets, but dominate them. 

"We've got all the confidence to be able to do these things. We've got guys who like to compete, especially when things get chippy and fiery and I think the playoffs are often that.... Just the little connective pieces maybe weren't there all season, but we knew we could get to them," head coach Chris Finch said (via Timberwolves).  

Chippy and fiery are certainly apt descriptions for the Timberwolves' series. They wasted no opportunity to get under Denver's skin, especially Jaden McDaniels. 

Whether it was calling Nuggets out by name for being bad defenders or sending Nikola Jokic into a fury after scoring a last-second basket in a game the Timberwolves had already won, McDaniels embraced his role as a villain.

Even more than embracing it though, he backed it up, becoming Minnesota's most reliable player on both ends of the court as the team last player after player to injury.

That ties back into confidence. Finch didn't have any real issues with what McDaniels said or did, he simply told his player that he needed to back it up, which he did. 

That confidence is exactly the kind of quality that is tested in the playoffs and reveals itself in the most difficult of moments. As the Timberwolves proved, it has also been their greatest difference-maker. 

Things won't get easier from here as the Timberwolves now have to gear up to play the dominant San Antonio Spurs, but their confidence likely won't waver and while it will be tested again, it can still be the quality that not only keeps Minnesota together as a team, but possibly, keeps them winners.