Guard Corey Webster's 27 points paced the Tall Blacks to a crucial 111-81 second-round win over Japan at the Basketball World Cup.
Eliminated from the top-16 playoffs, the New Zealand men are now scrambling for a spot in next year's last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament, with games against the Japanese and Turkey providing the key.
Two days after a heartbreaking pool loss to Greece, they picked themselves up to overwhelm their Asian-zone rivals, producing a sublime display of long-range shooting - among the best at the tournament so far.
Eight different players found the basket from beyond the three-point arc, with Webster shooting a perfect 5/5, as the team converted 18/33 (54.5 percent). His performance consolidated his standing as the event's leading scorer, averaging 25.5 points game and shooting 57.9 percent from afar.
As a team, New Zealand have now made more three-pointers than any other team at the tournament.
Forward Isaac Fotu compiled a 'double double' of 23 points/10 rebounds, while point guard Tai Webster had 15 points and nine assists.
New Zealand rocketed out to an early 12-point lead, but Japan drew even at 29-29 by the end of the opening quarter.
Eight unanswered points to open the second stanza put the Tall Black in command again - for good - and that advantage extended as far as 38 points down the stretch, as the Japanese found no answer to the barrage from distance.
Expatriate American centre Nick Fazekas dominated Japan's box score with 31 points, including five three-pointers, but they suffered from the absence of newly drafted NBA forward Rui Hachimura.
New Zealand next face Turkey at 11:30pm Monday.
Newshub.