INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- A few months ago, now-fired head coach Tyronn Lue revealed his grand plan at starting center, saying he was going to rotate Larry Nance Jr. and Tristan Thompson depending on the matchups.

It never happened. Nance hasn't started a game at center this season. As he said Wednesday morning, "plans change."

That's happening once again for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who will be without starting center Tristan Thompson for possibly a month, leaving Nance as the temporary fill-in.

"It's obviously tough to lose Tristan the way he was playing, the way he was leading this year," Nance said Wednesday following shootaround. "But the responsibility doesn't fall on one guy, it's us all as a group -- myself, Collin (Sexton), Cedi (Osman), Channing (Frye), guys that have been in the rotation and guys that have been around to pick up his leadership and fill in for his absence."

The natural reaction would be to wallow in the misery of a brutal season that's about to get even worse.

The Cavs have already been without their best player, Kevin Love, since October and won't get him back until the calendar flips to 2019. Now Thompson goes down with a sprained foot. It's the latest injury to hit a team that has been playing shorthanded since the second week.

Earlier this season, before he was traded to Milwaukee, George Hill was sidelined for weeks with a sprained shoulder. While that loss was tough at first, it also gave Sexton a much bigger opportunity. He took advantage, blossoming into a Rookie of the Year candidate, showing the kind of development that has front office members giddy about his future and making Hill expendable.

Thompson's injury is one Cleveland can't afford. Everyone recognizes his value. But that loss could have a positive impact on Nance.

"There are certain things that happen that you just can't prepare for," Nance said. "You see Jaron (Blossomgame) and Jalen (Jones) get an incredible opportunity. You get to see Collin expand his game more. Myself, I get to handle a little bit more responsibility. It's going to sound corny, but when life gives you lemons ... we've just got to figure out how to make the best of it and we'll be ready for them to come back."

In a way, this is the opportunity Nance thought he was getting from the beginning, when Lue mentioned Nance and Thompson sharing starting center duties.

"Plans change," Nance said. "That's something that I can't sit here and sulk about. Like I said, Tristan has been awesome. He's been awesome. Not a player on the team happier for him than I am. It's not something that I look at like, 'Man I'm getting screwed out of an opportunity.' I'm so happy for Tristan and now that I am getting comfortable in a role -- it had been starting, not starting, starting, not starting, at the 4, at the 5 -- so now that I'm getting comfortable in a role I'm starting to pick it up and really catch a rhythm. Unfortunate that he went down, but now it's time for me to expand on it."

Nance admitted that he's "pretty excited" about this chance. He's already been able to show different elements of his game -- pushing in transition, ball-handling, passing and improved outside shooting. Now he will be getting more minutes, a chance to bump up from his 23.6 per game.

With Thompson down, Nance said he needs to pick up the rebounding slack. Thompson was averaging 11.6 boards, including 5.0 on the offensive end. Nance is averaging 6.6 overall.

"I need to rev that up a little bit more and really start showing that we have two guys that can do that," Nance said. "He'll be in my ear, even though he's back on the training table. He'll be in my ear on where I can go for loose balls, chase rebounds and how to improve in that manner. He's off the court, but he's not off the team."

Thompson's leadership void will need to be filled as well.

During a season wrecked with injuries, head coach Larry Drew has had the same message. It won't change now. Effort and defense cannot wane just because of a few losses. Filling the massive void falls on everyone and the team can't afford any negative thoughts about what these setbacks mean to their chances.

"Nobody is feeling sorry for us," Nance said. "The Knicks aren't going to be like, 'Oh man you guys lost two pretty good players so we're going to give you this game tonight.' Nobody is going to lay down for us. We just have to keep on playing, keep on fighting.

"We're all NBA players and we're all super-talented. Just have to trust one another and trust everybody is going to make the right decision."