The Timberwolves just passed the 41-game mark with their loss to the Thunder last Friday night. Now that we’ve reached the halfway point of the season, it seems like a good time to look back and see how the Wolves have performed thus far.

We’ll start by breaking down the two phases of the first half, followed by a look at the three-point shooting (or lack thereof controversy), a peak at the job Sam Mitchell is doing, and we’ll close with some trade talk.

The first half of the season can be put into two separate stretches for the Timberwolves: the first 16 games, when they went 8-8; and the ensuing 25 games, when they went 4-21.

Through the first 16 games, the Wolves had an offensive rating of 101, which placed them at 17th in the league, per nba.com/stats. They were also 13th in the league in defensive rating with a 100.1 reading. This gave them a net rating of 0.9, which put them at 14th in the league.

The Wolves did have some nice wins over strong teams in that span, such as beating the Bulls, Heat, and the Hawks twice. They were also competitive in every game; their largest loss was by just 13 to the Warriors. They were playing well, they were fun to watch, and it seemed like they would exceed expectations for the season.

Since then, the Wolves have struggled greatly, going just 4-21 through Friday’s matchup with the Thunder. Their offensive rating is still nearly the same at 100.8, but they have seen many teams pass them. In that stretch, their offensive rating ranks only 25th in the league, as most teams have become more efficient as they have played more together.

Compared to the defense, however, the offense is doing just fine. Since that 8-8 start, the Wolves’ defensive rating has plummeted to a 106.8 reading. That is the fourth-worst mark in the league in that span, ahead of only the free-falling Suns, the all-offense Trail Blazers, and the circus that is the Lakers.

Combine that poor defense with an offense that hasn’t made up for it, and the Wolves’ net rating of -6.0 in that span is the fifth-worst in the league.

What has happened since the Wolves’ hot start? Some of it is just plain regression to the mean. The Wolves weren’t supposed to be a good team this year, with our staff of writers picking them for an average record of 29-53. At the halfway point (prior to Sunday’s win over Phoenix), the Wolves were on pace for 24 wins.

That was a bit below what most people expected, but as the opening stretch to the season showed, the Wolves can hang with most teams in the league. Besides a tough stretch at the turn of the New Year where the Wolves had embarrassing losses to the Pistons, Sixers, Nuggets, and Cavaliers, the Wolves have played decently and have been competitive in most games.

Look no further than this last week as proof: they nearly stole games against the Mavericks, Thunder, and Rockets, three teams that are playoff locks in the Western Conference. Even though that 4-21 stretch is still ugly, the Wolves should hopefully begin to coalesce and win the games that they should while also sneaking out some victories against stronger teams, like they did at the beginning of the season.

But enough about that. Let’s talk three-pointers…