The expectations were obviously through the roof. Such is life when Koby Altman takes a jackhammer to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster at the trade deadline and revamps the roster of the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. But reality, as is often the case, has turned those expectations upside down.

The Cavaliers are 4-4 since George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr. joined LeBron James and the remaining cast of characters (yes, that’s you J.R. Smith) on the floor, dousing the initial excitement that the moves fueled among the faithful in “The Land.” The Cavaliers have yet to win a home game with the new crew. The Plain Dealer’s Joe Vardon explains why Hill and the Cavaliers think now is not the time to panic:

“I don’t expect us to be 8-0 right now,” said Hill, who scored 17 points Saturday night. “I feel like early we was on that high horse, new to the city and new to the team so you’re kind of on cloud 9 to get away from your old stomping grounds, things like that. But once teams start scouting and figuring things out, we’ve just got to figure it out ourselves. Where we’re going as a team and what’s going to be our identity? It’s all new schemes for us defensively for four guys coming into a rotation to play with a playoff team like this is totally different. It’s going to take time.

“There’s no need for us to tip our head down. We’ve got to keep our head high and figure it out.”

Cleveland hosts Detroit at 7 p.m. Monday before heading out on a season-long, six-game road trip.

“We’re all trying to get better,” James said, after another triple double of 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists. “It’s not just the guys at the deadline, it’s all of us, we’re all trying to figure it out.”