For 68 prolonged seconds, Houston Rockets center Alperen Şengün could only watch from the sidelines as his team gradually let go of the rope at the most inopportune time. The large video screen hanging from the ceiling of T-Mobile Arena indicated the semifinal was anything but over — the Oklahoma City Thunder were clinging to an 84-79 lead with more than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It was midway through the third quarter of the Oklahoma City-Houston NBA Cup semifinal matchup on Saturday night. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just made a short jumper in the lane and, to his delight, a time-out was immediately called. He needed it.

In the NBA Cup semifinal, the Houston Rockets couldn’t outlast the Oklahoma City Thunder in a defensive-fueled matchup, falling 111-96. The game featured the to