Spurs just proved Zach Lowe right about the Thunder in the worst-possible way

After the San Antonio Spurs were thoroughly beaten by the Oklahoma City Thunder on opening night, they managed to prove NBA analyst Zach Lowe right. Lowe recently mentioned that he expects the Thunder to win the Western Conference and the championship.

He believes the biggest difference between now and the Western Conference Finals is because the Thunder's injured guards are now healthy. The Thunder being banged up in the WCF is true, though it takes away from the Spurs outplaying the Thunder in Oklahoma City in both Game 1 and Game 7.

Of course, with both teams at or near full strength, the Thunder smoked the Spurs on opening night. It wasn't a good look for the Spurs and proved that Lowe was at least right in the sense that a healthy Thunder would have given them a much tougher test.

Spurs just proved Zach Lowe right about OKC in the worst possible way

I still believe the Spurs are the better team and played horribly in the season opener. Victor Wembanyama had the worst shooting game of his career, going 1-13 from the field, while San Antonio was outshot by OKC's guards.

Had the Thunder and Spurs shot closer to their respective 3-point percentage from last season, the game would have been much closer. Fortunately, Stephon Castle showed up and drilled five threes to keep the game competitive, but San Antonio simply was outplayed by the Thunder.

It's not for the end of the world, but it shows that the gap between the Spurs and OKC is much closer than many San Antonio fans would like to admit.

The Spurs have work to do to beat OKC again

There are some silver linings. Namely, Fox playing well and helping the Spurs mount a comeback in the second half, as well as Castle shooting the ball well from three. Harper also scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out five assists.

Meanwhile, Wembanyama was in mid-season form defensively, swatting six shots, but he didn't exactly dominate rival Chet Holmgren. Look, San Antonio had a bad game, but the Thunder won't shoot as well as they did, and the Spurs won't shoot that poorly going forward.

Yet, Lowe was proven right, at least in the assertion that the Thunder were missing their guards. Players such as Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain give them more shooting, while Jalen Williams provides a two-way threat that was missing from the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs can and will adjust, but they clearly have a lot of work left to do.

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