The Tall Blacks have won the first match on their tour of Europe, beating Great Britain 84-63 at the Copperbox in London.
The Tall Blacks perform the haka, London, 2015. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The home side stayed with New Zealand in the first two quarters and only trailed by two points at half-time (43-41).
But the locals had no answer to the Tall Blacks offence and smothering defence in the second half, with Corey Webster (32) and Everard Bartlett (15) helping New Zealand race away with the game on the back of their 27-13 third quarter dominance.
The New Zealand coach Paul Henare was delighted with the victory in his first match in charge.
"Great Britain gave us everything we expected and wanted from this game, they were physical and threw some great stuff at us, especially in the first half.
"But I was pleased with the way we stepped up the intensity in the second half, the energy was good throughout, the bench maintained the momentum and in the end we were just too strong," the coach said.
Tall Blacks centre Robert Loe in action against Kieron Achara Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Isaac Fotu was another to post impressive numbers for New Zealand, with 10 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists.
He was always in the thick of the action and along with Mika Vukona (11 boards) and Rob Loe (6).
The team now travels to Croatia for two days of training before playing Croatia and Slovenia back to back on Thursday and Friday,
They then head to China to play in the Stankovic Cup.
The tour is preparation for the Olympic qualifying series against Australia in Melbourne on August 15 and Wellington on August 18.
