“They’re never easy,” said Cone of the Tigers. “The game itself looked easy, but the preparation is hard. There are no easy games in the PBA.”

While the game needed 48 minutes to finish, it was virtually all over in the first 12. Alaska already had built a 22-point lead, Cyrus Baguio was in his elements, and the Aces’ import, LD Williams, appeared to have had a grand time in his PBA Commissioner’s Cup debut Wednesday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The defending Fiesta Conference champion cruised to a 106-82 win over a hapless Powerade side, leading from start to finish in an emphatic opening game for a franchise seeking to bounce back from a disappointing performance in the Philippine Cup.

Baguio went 6-of-6 from the floor in the first quarter and the Aces stormed to a 38-16 lead. By the time the first half ended, Alaska was up by 28 points, 60-32.

It was the second straight time that the PBA witnessed in its young conference that a lopsided contest occurred. Ginebra, in the tournament’s opening game against Meralco in Laoag City last Friday, likewise rolled to an easy 115-98 victory.

But while the overall concept of the game is how a team finishes a game, it was obviously Alaska’s start that spelled the big difference.

“We set a nice tone, a nice tempo in the first six or eight minutes of the ball game,” Cone said. “And then LD had two dunks that displaced the other team and energized us.” Alaska had its most spectacular moments during back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, when Williams came through with throw-downs, the second one being the more spectacular when he caught the long pass from Bonbon Custodio to slam home a left-handed dunk that somehow awakened a sleepy crowd.

“We see those kinds of shots every game during practice,” Cone said.

“He’s young and he’s still learning the game. He’s a nice kid.” Yeng Guiao, too, seems to be happy with his import for Rain or Shine, which survived Derby Ace, 95-94, in the conference’s first outcome that went down the wire.

“I think he’s the best so far,” Guiao said of Hassan Adams, the only reinforcement among the current crop with NBA experience aftert having played for the New Jersey Nets, the team that picked him 54th in the 2006 Draft, before moving on to the Toronto Raptors and to the LA Clippers for brief stints.

Adams scattered 30 points including a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, had seven rebounds, four steals and four assists.

But it was Ryan Arana who mattered most in the end. He scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Elasto Painters hop to a 93-84 advantage from a dangerous 84-81 count, before Rain or Shine weathered a late uprising by the Llamados.

In fact, Derby Ace had all the time in the world to win it after threatening to within 94-95 with 18.6 seconds left to play. But the Llamados could not set up a decent shot, with the ball landing in the final seconds on the hands of import Robert Brown, who threw up an off-balanced shot as time expired.

“We’re just happy that we survived our first game,” said Guiao, who took over the head-coaching job of the franchise last month. “But we still have to learn quick how to finish games.” The victory likewise saved Gabe Norwood from getting the blame. He was the one that gave Derby Ace the opening to fight back, coming through with an airball and two straight turnovers – the last on a five-second inbounds violation with 18.6 seconds to go — in a span of one minute.

The result was the type Alaska desires to jump-start its campaign this conference. The Aces are eyeing to become the first franchise in more than a decade to win consecutive import-spiced tournaments since San Miguel Beer ruled the 2000 Commissioner’s Cup with Stephen Howard and the Governors’ Cup with Lamont Strothers.

Baguio eventually ended with 24 points (9-of-11), Williams added 21 points with eight rebounds while LA Tenorio had 15 points and six assists. Joe Devance, Alaska’s top player in the Philippine Cup, concentrated on other matters other than scoring, pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing off nine assists. Devance scored six points.

On the other hand, it was a painful start for the Tigers, a franchise that finished no better than seventh place the past five conferences.

Coach Bo Perasol said the day before the game that it would take a lot of hard work for them to make it to the playoffs, confessing that the ball club had committed, as a team, to treat every elimination round game as a playoff contest.

It was not even close.

They shot just 36.4 percent from the floor (28-of-77), gave up 25 turnover points, lacked fire off the boards (46-54), and turned over the ball 24 times – statistics that are definitely not playoff worthy.

Russel Carter led the Tigers with 34 points, but struggled from the field on 10-of-29 shooting. Gary David was the only other player who scored in double figures for Powerade with 17.

With its first game down, the Aces are now thinking of a tough road ahead. It faces Ginebra, guest team and strong title contender Smart-Gilas, San Miguel, Derby Ace and then Talk ‘N Text in its next five games.

“It’s a murderous path ahead,” Cone said. “We looked sharp tonight, but Ginebra looked pretty sharp in its last game. So we’ll see.”