Why have the Timberwolves been bad against bad teams — and good against good ones?

In some ways, the opponent in Friday's must-win play-in game at Target Center couldn't be better for the Timberwolves.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are extremely young. They just played Wednesday. And the Wolves went 3-1 against OKC this season.

But in one key area, this is a bad matchup for the Wolves: The Thunder have a losing record.

Perhaps the most maddening (or at least confusing) statistic about the Timberwolves this season is the split in results against teams who are at or above .500 and those below .500.

Against winning teams, the Wolves are 25-22, the second-best mark in the West behind No. 1 seed Denver. Against losing teams, they are just 17-18 – six more losses than any other team that finished in the top-10 (either playoffs or play-in participants) in the conference.

As they prepare to play the Thunder, here's a question: Why?

The Wolves haven't been able to answer that all season, but here are a few thoughts that Chip Scoggins and I discussed on Thursday's Daily Delivery podcast:

*Against bad teams, the Wolves have major lapses in concentration. It has been particularly glaring after halftime, when the Wolves have a net rating of minus-4.4 for the season (wins and losses).

A good example came in a Dec. 31 home loss to the Pistons – one of seven losses this season to the four worst teams in the NBA. The Wolves led 64-50 at the break but were outscored 38-24 in the fourth quarter and eventually lost by 12.

"Old demons. Got outcompeted in the third (quarter)," Wolves coach Chris Finch said after that game, noting that the Wolves became too selfish down the stretch. "Just lifeless. Not sure exactly where it comes from."

*That theme of selfish play shows up in a lot of Wolves losses this season, and indeed was lamented again by Finch in a 108-102 overtime loss to the Lakers in Tuesday's play-in game.

In wins this season, 63.4% of Wolves baskets came off an assist, but in losses just 58.3% did. The mark in wins would be top-5 in the NBA if it was their overall percentage, while their mark in losses would rank in the bottom third.

*The Thunder are a losing team, but just barely (40-42 in the regular season, plus Wednesday's play-in win over New Orleans). In winning three of four against OKC this season, the Wolves played fast and crashed the offensive glass (30.7% offensive rebound rate, fourth-best against any opponent).

But all four games were completed by Dec. 16 – long before the Wolves changed point guards from D'Angelo Russell to Mike Conley Jr. – so it's hard to draw too many conclusions about what will happen four months later. If the Wolves have anything going for them, it's this: When they need to focus, they tend to be competitive.

And it doesn't get much bigger than a game that determines whether you make the playoffs or go home.