The sacrifices being made to again turn the Cleveland Cavaliers into an NBA power extend beyond LeBron James' decision to return home that spearheaded the movement.
His teammates are beginning to accept new roles and expectations, especially with injuries affecting the roster.
The Cavs hope to have Kyrie Irving back as they seek a fifth victory in six games Sunday against the visiting Detroit Pistons (4 p.m. pregame, 4:30 tip-off on FOX Sports Detroit).
Cleveland (18-11) struggled to a 5-7 start as James, Kevin Love and the rest of the Cavaliers adjusted to first-year coach David Blatt's system with a retooled roster.
James said that shoot-first Dion Waiters has become more patient within the offense as the season has progressed, and he scored 17 points off the bench in Friday's 98-89 win at Orlando.
Love, who was the go-to guy in Minnesota, had no problems sitting out the entire fourth quarter as Blatt played better defensive matchups, and James turned it on down the stretch to finish with 29 points and eight assists.
"I think we took a step forward," James said. "Kevin Love sacrificed in the fourth quarter. He didn't play. He was helping, cheering, slapping hands every time we went to the sidelines.
"On this team there are so many different options and if you remain patient, the ball will find you. The ball will find energy. You don't have to seek it out."
Irving, who has accepted not always being the primary option in the offense, sat out with a knee injury suffered in Thursday's loss at Miami and is considered day to day.
The Cavs also played their second game without Anderson Varejao, who is out for the season after tearing his left Achilles tendon.
The last-place Pistons (6-23) are going through their own adjustment period after waiving veteran Josh Smith in order to increase roles for younger players.
Detroit responded in its first game without Smith, ending a four-game losing streak with a 119-109 win over Indiana on Friday. Greg Monroe started in Smith's spot and finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Coach Stan Van Gundy was happy with the performance, but he refused to blame the Pistons' previous struggles on Smith's presence.
"C'mon, we've won one game now," Van Gundy said. "Now we're going to jump on 'Josh was the problem?' I'm not going there. What happened (Friday) is we had a lot of guys play really well. It had absolutely nothing to do with Josh not being here. It had to do with the guys who were here playing really well."
Detroit ranks near the bottom of the league in field-goal percentage at 41.8, but it shot a season-best 54.7 percent against the Pacers. Andre Drummond went 9 of 12 from the floor and finished with a game-high 20 points, while Brandon Jennings added 14 and 10 assists.
"It's definitely a sign of how we should play, but it's only one game," Jennings said.
D.J. Augustin played well when giving Jennings a breather, scoring 14 and adding a season-high eight assists off the bench.
"We need both of them to be aggressive," Monroe said. "When they're aggressive, that opens it up for everybody else. Both of them are very capable of making shots. They're very capable of penetrating. As long as they're aggressive and continue to make the right play, we'll be fine."
Cleveland has won nine of 10 at home after a three-game skid there.
