The Tall Blacks hit their first significant speed bump on the road to the Olympic qualifying tournament in Manila yesterday, defeated 84-55 by a well-drilled Latvian team in Riga.
Of as much concern as the result will be the calf strain suffered by shooting guard Corey Webster.
Head coach Paul Henare says his side was simply outplayed, but he was immediately looking at what the team might take out of such a tough night.
"Latvia were well drilled, classy and ready to play tonight, and for whatever reason we weren't up to it. Maybe for a number in this group they simply didn't appreciate the quality we would be up against tonight.''
The visiting side was out of the blocks in fine fashion, opening an early lead on the back of strong defence and accurate shooting from Corey Webster, but Latvia soon responded, going on a 12-point run with Isaac Fotu sitting early with two fouls to lead 19-10 midway through the first.
However, the Tall Blacks regrouped to stay in touch at the end of the first, trailing 26-21.
The second quarter saw another good run from New Zealand to tie it up 26-26, but just as Webster was looking to find his groove, the Tall Blacks' shooting guard was cut short by a calf strain and headed to the bench and would play no further part in the game.
The extent of the injury will not be known until the results of scans are known and the injury is given a chance to settle over the next 24 hours.
That appeared to rattle the New Zealanders and Latvia went on an offensive assault, raining threes to clear out 47-31 at the main break, with the New Zealanders needing to head to the changing rooms to regroup.
The signs were good early in the second half, with the Kiwis showed fighting spirit against the bigger and often times quicker Latvians, closing the margin to single figures before this time Tai Webster hit foul trouble and had to sit.
The Latvians responded again and took the game away from the Tall Blacks with a 65-46 lead at the final break.
