The way Marcus Blakely played, Daniel Orton can take his sweet time before coming over.

The smallest import in the field, Blakely came up with monster numbers on Friday night and led Purefoods to a swashbuckling debut in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

Aside from providing a lot of the energy and the hustle, Blakely scored 26 points, had 18 rebounds, blocked seven shots and had four assists in an 83-70 victory over Globalport that got the Star Hotshots’ title defense getting off on the right foot.

“Marcus comes in like a warm blanket for us,” Purefoods coach Tim Cone said minutes after the win, which was in stark contrast to they way they opened defense of the Philippine Cup where they eventually got the boot in the first phase of the quarterfinals.

“We know what to do with him,” Cone continued in praise of the two-time Best Import, a stand-in for Orton, an NBA veteran who is still finishing his commitment in the Chinese professional league.

“I think it is actually a kind of advantage for us, he plays like he’s 6-9 in terms of rebounding. He also had seven blocks tonight and that just shows you what kind of an athlete he is.”

Purefoods is allowed an import not taller than 6-foot-9, but when original pick Denzel Bowles, an old hand, was measured to be way above the limit, Cone deemed it best to tap Blakely for the meantime until Orton arrives.

Marc Barroca scored 11 points and Alex Mallari 10 as the Hotshots started peeling away from the enemy late in the second quarter and never let up.

Purefoods led by as large as 17 points late in the third period when it got the Batang Pier to play its up-tempo game. The Hotshots led, 68-50 with 8:08 left before Blakely was forced to ride the bench for three minutes because of a flagrant foul 1 call on Globalport counterpart CJ Leslie.

His absence gave the Batang Pier the chance to mount a mild rally, as Globalport came to within 12 only for Blakely to return with under five minutes left and restore order on the floor for Purefoods.

The loss was the first in two games for the Batang Pier, whose own import Leslie was having physical problems the last two days.

Leslie didn’t practice the day before the game because of dehydration and actually cramped up early in the fourth period. He finished with 25 points to pace the Batang Pier, whose first win came at the expense of KIA Motors on opening day.

Peter June Simon didn’t see action for Cone, who gave Marc Pingris scant minutes also because of an injury.

James Yap, the former two-time MVP and face of the modern Purefoods franchise, scored nine points.

Terrence Romeo fired 19 and Denok Miranda 10 for the Batang Pier, who got just four points from leading Rookie of the Year candidate Stanley Pringle.

Meanwhile, Meralco, because of the Purefoods win, got the solo lead after scoring a 90-80 win over the KIA Carnival in the first game.

Gary David and Jai Reyes scored heavily in the second half for the Bolts, who raced to their second straight victory after an upset 85-74 triumph over crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra on opening night.

David hit 16 of his 25 points in the final half, while Reyes, who was put on the active list just the day before because of an injury to Mike Cortez, finished with a career-high 16 points and earned Player of the Game honors.

Reyes was so effective that he played more minutes than starting point guard Simon Atkins, holding the Bolts together especially when the Carnival, through 7-foot-4 import PJ Ramos, came to within one halfway through the fourth period.

Ramos again came up with dominating numbers of 34 points and 21 rebounds and, for the second straight game, got very little support from his local back up.

Reil Cervantes, the Carnival’s leading scorer in the Philippine Cup, missed the game because of a leg injury.

Jared Dillinger also sat it out for Meralco for the second straight game, though coach Norman Black is optimistic that he will be available when the Bolts battle sister team Talk ‘N Text next week.