Hours before Jalen Green sank game-winning free throws and Jabari Smith Jr. blocked the Warriors’ final shot Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets manifested their next goal. They did not have a vision board but had clear eyes for what lay ahead.

The Thunder (-200) are favored by 4.5 points in the initial BetMGM line for Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal in Las Vegas against the Rockets (+165).

The Houston Rockets had lost 15 consecutive games against the Golden State Warriors entering Wednesday, and trailing by seven with under four minutes to go, it looked as if that streak was about to get bumped up to 16.