Szczerbiak, West handle this adjustment business

From the moment they arrived for yesterday morning's shootaround at TD Banknorth Garden, it was apparent that Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West - a pair of former Celtics who were dealt from Seattle to Cleveland as part of a blockbuster three-team trade Feb. 21 - had checked their emotions at the door.

While they have not forgotten all the good times they had in Boston - Szczerbiak for the 2006-07 season; West from 2004-07 - they returned last night fully intending to help the Cavaliers take care of business.

"It's never personal," said West. "In this league, it's always been about the business. Of course, you want to come back and play well for the fans. This team took a chance on me coming out of college, so they will always have a special place."

Whatever emotions they had about Boston were dealt with when Szczerbiak and West made their first trip back to the Garden in just their fourth game with Cleveland.

"I'm not going to say it was just another game, because obviously I have fond memories of playing on the parquet floor here," said Szczerbiak, referring to the 92-87 loss the Cavs suffered at the Garden Feb. 27. "This series is going to be very fun going up against Boston and competing, but it's not going to be about me and Delonte. It's about the Cleveland Cavaliers playing the Boston Celtics.

Szczerbiak found the rims a bit unforgiving as he opened the game by missing his first five shots. West similarly struggled, going 0 for 3 in the first.

Szczerbiak finished with 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting, while West ended up with only 4 points, shooting 2 for 10.

Learning the ropes

Szczerbiak said, for him, the most difficult aspect of the midseason trade, which also brought Joe Smith and Ben Wallace from the Bulls, was becoming a fully-integrated component of the Cavaliers' starting rotation.

"Very difficult," Szczerbiak said. "Coaches, players, we've all worked very hard at it. We're not only integrating one guy, we're integrating four new guys.

"These guys have been here through playoff runs and Final runs in the last four years, so it took time to get comfortable with the system."

Szczerbiak, who averaged 10.8 points in Cleveland's first-round series against the Wizards, combined with LeBron James and Daniel Gibson to score 75 points in the clinching 105-88 Game 6 triumph last Friday night in Washington. Szczerbiak set playoff career highs with 26 points and six 3-pointers, which represented a 22-point improvement over his 4-point effort in Game 5.

"You just need to learn new concepts, new terminology and stuff like that," Szczerbiak said. "Now that we've done that, I think we're ready to go."

A matter of trust

For West, the most important aspect of the first-round triumph over the Wizards was establishing a trust factor among teammates.

"You know, it's taken a while for us to come together; we've been finding our way all year," he said. "I think we're starting to peak at the right time. Right after the trade, things were a little rocky and there were a lot of ups and downs.

"But just coming into the postseason, and throughout the Wizards series, guys have really started to find their game. I think everyone really trusts in each other now."

That was evident in Game 5 when James passed up a chance at a game-winning basket and kicked it out to West, who knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to lift the Cavs to a 100-97 victory and a 3-1 series lead.

"It was just a good play, a great team play in making that pass," West said. "We just had a great finish, knocking it down from the corner to win the basketball game. Guys are really trying to trust each other here and it's only going to make us a great basketball team."

Said James, "We're a much better team than the first couple weeks after the trade. We've been more restrained lately. If one guy breaks down, we've been helping each other.

"We knew it was going to take a little while, but we're happy we're playing our best basketball of the season now."