NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley blasted the Oklahoma City Thunder for their performance against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

Barkley compared the Thunder to a “pretty girl who is dumb” after blowing a 17-point lead against the LeBron James-less Lakers. Barkley said that the Thunder should have put their foot on the Lakers' neck when they were up by 17 points, playing in front of their home crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The former All-Star pointed out that the Lakers were not expecting to win on Thursday. And if the Thunder made a conscious effort to increase their lead to 25 to 30 points, the Lakers would have folded and given up. However, Oklahoma City failed to ride on its momentum, allowing the Lakers to make a huge comeback:

The Lakers had a strong second quarter, outscoring the Thunder by 16 points to take a four-point lead at the half. Los Angeles then sustained its performance in the second half and appeared headed to a three-point win in regulation before Russell Westbrook converted three free throws with two seconds left to force overtime.

However, the Thunder allowed the Lakers to gain confidence again in the extra period, as Lonzo Ball sparked a rally, scoring five of his team's first seven points in overtime. Los Angeles eventually held on for a 138-128 victory over the Thunder, who were favored to win against the injury-ravaged Lakers squad.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Magic Johnson holding a coaching board with the faces of D'Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell on it. LeBron James looking serious

Angelo Guinhawa ·

Nike Kobe 8 Protro "Mambacita" photos and release

Dominik Zawartko ·

The LeBron vs. MJ debate has taken an interesting turn.

Nick Meyer ·

Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers with 32 points and eight rebounds, while Ivica Zubac had a huge double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Ball finished with 18 points on top of 10 assists and six rebounds, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Josh Hart added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Paul George paced the Thunder with 27 points and eight assists, while Westbrook ended up with 26 points to go along with 13 assists and nine rebounds in a losing effort. The Thunder shot just 39.4 percent from the field while allowing the Lakers to shoot 50.5 percent, including a 19-for-40 clip from beyond the arc.