Shaq’s sizzling Spurs take shouldn’t shock diehard Thunder fans

When former San Antonio Spurs rival turned NBA analyst Shaquille O'Neal talks, fans listen. Often, he has had critical things to say about the Silver and Black in the past, even taking to trolling Spurs fans.

He's claimed that the Spurs winning the championship in 1999 should come with an asterisk. He's also compared superstar Victor Wembanyama to Bol Bol, who is currently out of the NBA. Shaq also doesn't seem to take his analyst duties as seriously as he perhaps should at times. That's led to the famous "I apologize, I wasn't familiar with your game" meme.

Broken clocks are still right twice a day, and Shaq's latest take should redeem him in the eyes of Spurs fans. He is on record stating that the Spurs would currently beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

Shaquille O'Neal is right that the Spurs can beat the Thunder

That might not be as bold of a take now as it would have seemed heading into December, but it's still a fairly reasonable hot take. San Antonio is 4-1 against OKC this season, with the Silver and Black taking the belt to their once and current rivals. You love to see it.

San Antonio appears to be distinctly suited to challenge OKC. Wembanyama can shut down the paint and seems to have the psychological edge over Chet Holmgren.

The Thunder have yet to find a counter to him, with Wemby able to camp out near the paint while guarding Isaih Hartenstein. Even when they go small, Alex Caruso and Lu Dort are middling shooters, combining to knock down only 33.8% of their 8.7 3-point attempts per game.

San Antonio has lived with them taking open threes if it deters Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams from getting to the rim.

The Spurs may have the right recipe to beat OKC

Speaking of Williams, he's taken fewer threes this season. He's gone from attempting 4.9 threes per game last season to taking 2.5 threes per game this season and shooting just 31.3% from deep.

In four games against the Spurs this season, he's averaging just 16.5 points on 49% true shooting, well below the league average. Having two members of their big three struggle against San Antonio is concerning for OKC.

Offensively, San Antonio hasn't had much trouble scoring against the Thunder. They have three slashers in De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper who can put pressure on the rim and generate high-percentage shots.

Holmgren hasn't been much of a deterrent against those players, and this team is shooting much better from the field than OKC is as a result. Not only that, but the Silver and Black have shot significantly more free throws than the Thunder in their five games.