For as long as the NBA season is, so much of the important of the season comes down to just the final weeks and that kind of pressure can weigh down anyone. 

Uncertainty is a killer in so many situations and playoff uncertainty can be especially deadly to NBA teams. When every game becomes a must-win and factors like playoff seeding, or even making the playoffs at all, come into play, coaches and players find themselves stressed and scrambled. 

The flip side of that is once that certainty is finally achieved, everyone can relax. Even if there are still games left, there isn't as much pressure or desperation to win and lineups don't have to be addressed with as much razor-sharp scrutiny.

It's a freeing feeling and it means that teams can experiment with rotations and give players opportunities to play and grow with the space that results aren't always going to be the end all be all. 

That freedom is something that the Minnesota Timberwolves have been feeling lately. Now that they've clinched the sixth-seed in the playoffs and don't have to be worried about whether or not thy'll have to fight in the Play-In tournament, there's been a lightness to them that's shown up in the way they've been playing.

"Once we got locked into a situation, once we clinched and knew that we're going to be one of those top six teams, guys like Julius [Randle] and Rudy [Gobert] got a little rest. It gives us all opportunities to compete. A lot of our guys who don't get a lot of minutes. It is a weight of your shoulders," Mike Conley said (via Timberwolves). 

The Timberwolves may have gone 2-4 in their last six games, but hidden within that recent record has been the fact that they've won two of their last three games after suffering a three-game skid.

A big help to that has ben the added presence of Anthony Edwards, who's been off and on the court with some injury trouble, but the assurance of their playoff spot in a big factor in the psychological side of the game. 

They've been able to enter preparation mode instead of survival mode and their energy has vastly changed, becoming more relaxed and diligent. 

The mentality shift that comes with knowing where they're at in the playoffs means they can now look forward and think about what needs to happen for them to sustain their recent success and use it for a deep playoff run in a stacked Western Conference.