The Tall Blacks lost their game against the Chinese basketball team in the last fraction of a second overnight in Jinjiang.
Chinese player Zhu Fang Yu scored a three-pointer off the back board with just 0.1 of a second left on the clock, taking the home team to a 60-59
win.
"We won that game but for lack of preparation," Tall Black coach Tab Baldwin said.
"I thought our defence, for the most, was pretty physical," he said.
"They shot the ball great from free throws in the second half... we can't give them that much opportunity."
In the first outing of their 2005 campaign, the Kiwis - minus starting guards Mark Dickel and Kirk Penney - had done enough for the win against a Chinese outfit learning to cope with the injury-enforced absence of their kingpin - NBA superstar Yao Ming.
The Tall Blacks led 33-28 at the break but offensively they stagnated in the second half and were often forced to heave up desperation shots as their 24 seconds expired.
The third quarter became a battle of attrition dominated by the referees with neither team able to make much headway.
New Zealand could not gain the upper hand that would allow them to take control of the game and China could close no nearer than three points. Nevertheless, entering the final quarter, the Tall Blacks had stretched their advantage to seven points and seemed to be in the driver's seat.
Their next game is against the American All-Stars tomorrow night.
China 60 (Yi Jian Lian 16, Zhu Fang Yu 13)
Tall Blacks 59 (Dillon Boucher 10, Phill Jones & Lindsay Tait 9)
Quarter 17-17
Halftime 28-33 (11-16)
Threequarter 37-44 (20-27)
Fulltime 60-59 (23-15)
- NZPA
