JBL standouts J.R. Sakuragi and Kosuke Takeuchi scored 19 and 15 points, respectively, in a 90-78 victory over Taiwan on Saturday in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo.
Japan improved to 2-0 in the tournament, which began on Friday.
Guard Takatoshi Furukawa added 16 points and guard Kosuke Kanamaru had a 10-point outing.
Tien Lei paced Taiwan with 19 points, ex-Osaka Evessa center Tseng Wen-ting had 15 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals and Lee Hsueh-lin scored 10 points in the team's first game of the continental competition.
Taiwan shot 14-for-25 at the free-throw line, while Japan was 12-for-14.
Sakuragi and Hinori Watanabe each had five assists for coach Kimikazu Suzuki's team.
Also Saturday, Qatar defeated India 84-63, the Philippines topped Lebanon 78-68 and Uzbekistan routed Macau 81-61.