Tall Blacks Jordan Ngatai Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Tall Blacks have started the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers with a 92-51 win over Hong Kong in Hong Kong.
New Zealand started strongly and were up by five after the first quarter, 19 at half time and 24 at three-quarter time.
In the other game in the group Chinese Taipei upset the Philippines 91-84.
The Philippines and New Zealand had already qualified for the Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia in August. The winner of the group and the higher seeding for the tournament will be decided when they meet in Auckland on Sunday.
Coach Judd Flavell was impressed with his team's performance, particularly on the defensive end.
"We really wanted to come into this game tonight and establish a defensive identity which meant we wanted to be up the floor, pressuring the basketball and trying to make Hong Kong feel uncomfortable out there. In the first five minutes, Hong Kong got off to a great start, but I felt like we made some good adjustments from that point on."
That defensive pressure equated to 24 turnovers.
"We have a lot to build, this is my second campaign with the group. We have half of the team that was here from November, and the rest of the guys were new to the system. So we always knew we were going to be a little clunky in a couple of places. But we really wanted to make sure at the end of the day, that our defence was going to get the job done."
Jordan Ngatai top scored with 20 points while Reuben Te Rangi finished with 18.
