CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Well, at least the Boston Celtics never had a player throw some soup at a coach this season.

Otherwise, both of the teams playing in the Eastern Conference finals had a pretty wild ride in getting to this point.

The Cavaliers, who are shooting for their fourth straight Finals berth, existed all season in a culture of chaos. We chronicled their roller coaster ride for you at the start of the playoffs, but we'll go over it again because, well, SOUP!

Boston hasn't exactly endured the soap-opera stuff that's become commonplace in Cleveland, but the Celtics did lose their top two players to season-ending injuries. And yet, here the Celtics still stand.

Let's say it a little spicier. Last summer, the Celtics convinced the Cavs to trade them All-Star and champion Kyrie Irving, and they signed Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $128 million deal.

Poof, both of them gone -- Hayward after about five minutes of his first game in Green, in Cleveland, of all places.

The Celtics, they grew from their trials and tribulations. Rookie Jayson Tatum blossomed with Hayward's scoring gone; Terry Rozier emerged quickly as a legitimate threat when Irving went under the knife in March, and again in April.

The Cavs, well, they simply survived theirs.

"Survive is a word that you could probably use," Kyle Korver said Friday.

"I hate it," coach Tyronn Lue said.

"It's become expected, at least, us being the Cavs and all," Kevin Love added.

"If you want to have a little chaos and you still compete for a championship, I'm all for it," LeBron James said.

Kyrie Irving drives past LeBron James (23) during the first quarter of a game in February.

Success is no accident

In Irving and Hayward, the Celtics lost players with combined career scoring averages of 37.6 points per game who were paid $48.4 million this year. Their longest-tenured player, Marcus Smart, suffered a torn tendon in his right thumb on March 11, the first day of Irving's absence.

Smart didn't play again until the playoffs. And yet, the Celtics finished in second place in the East and as the top-rated defensive team in the NBA.

The Cavs, when asked about it this week, don't view the Celtics' success this season as an accident. From the pedigree of coach Brad Stevens, to the emergence of Tatum and Rozier, to the glue role Al Horford has played in holding Boston together, the Cavs view the Celtics as a really, really good team.

Sounds obvious, given that there are only four NBA teams left, but, again, Boston is advancing without its top two players. Where would the Cavs be without James and Love?

"I think they are one of the most well-coached teams in our league," James said. "Obviously, you know what I've said about Brad Stevens before and his ability to get the most out of his guys, how great they are out of timeouts, late-clock situations as well no matter who is on the floor or no matter who has played for them, he can put guys in position to succeed and get the most out of whoever has been in their lineup over the past few years, it's not just this year.

"I think it has been a little bit overblown this year because of the names that has been out."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Overblown? Boston's missing its best players, 'Bron.

"Yeah because a lot of people are saying, 'How can they succeed like this without Gordon Hayward?' I've heard that," James said. "He's been out since the first quarter of Game 1, so it's like do we even know who they would have ... he's not even like been on the team.

"I get it with the Kyrie thing. He was obviously a teammate of mine for three years and I know what he's capable of doing, but they got guys that's damn good, no matter if they are young or not, they know how to play basketball and their coach has put them in position to succeed."

Hayward went down with 6:50 left in the first quarter on opening night, breaking his tibia and dislocating his ankle after he was knocked out of the air trying to catch a lob from Irving and landed wrong. Like, really wrong.

Irving's first knee surgery, on March 24, was supposed to relieve lingering soreness and maybe keep him out until the second round of the playoffs. But they found infection in the mechanism already surgically inserted into his knee in 2015 with the Cavs, and now he's out until training camp.

Tatum is 20. He can't drink (legally), but he can score -- to the tune of 18.8 points per game in the postseason, leading the Celtics.

Rozier, 24, born in Youngstown and a Shaker Heights alum, is in his third season. He's averaging 18.2 points, 5.5 boards and 5.8 assists in the playoffs.

Jaylen Brown, who played a bit part when the Celtics were swept by the Cavs in the conference finals last season, is 21 (buy that man a beer!). He's averaging 16.9 points in the playoffs and shooting better than 41 percent from 3-point range. The Celtics survived his missing the first two games against the Sixers in the conference semis with a hamstring injury, because of course they did.

Rookie Daniel Theis, a bench contributor all season, suffered a torn meniscus on March 11 (a really, really bad day for Boston). He's out. Shane Larkin sprained his left shoulder in Game 4 against Philadelphia and won't be ready for this series.

"I don't really see they're lacking at any position," Korver said. "They roll out, they'll have five guys out there at all times who all can play. They're athletic, they can switch a lot of things. They're versatile. So even though they lost two really good players, they're not lacking for talent."

'I like where we're at right now'

The Cavs, well, they're fully healthy. It's a modern miracle. They're also coming off a sweep of the top-seeded Raptors.

Love missed about two months with a broken bone in his left hand. Tristan Thompson missed 29 games with injuries.

Isaiah Thomas (remember him?) didn't play until January. He set fire to the team (losses of 28, 34, 32, and 18 points with him on the court) and was traded Feb. 8, along with five teammates.

Derrick Rose was one of them. He was hurt in Game 2, out again by Nov. 9, left the team and considered retirement, rejoined them in December but didn't play until Jan. 18.

Love was attacked by teammates Jan. 22 for missing most of the Oklahoma City game and practice the next day. So he told them he has panic attacks. He told the public about them on March 6.

Korver's brother died on March 20.

Lue even missed two full weeks because of lingering health issues.

Oh, right, the soup. JR Smith tossed a bowl of it at assistant coach Damon Jones on March 1.

Not mentioned here: Khloe Kardashian, Arthur memes, and LeBron-to-the-Warriors nonsense.

"I like where we're at right now," Korver said.

"It hasn't been bad," Lue said. "Outside of just having the injuries early, not having a point guard with I.T. being out til January, Tristan being out for a while, Kevin being hurt again and missing six weeks. We just had a lot of injuries. A lot of guys in and out of the rotations. But we were able to keep plugging away.

"It's been a good situation for us. I think we found out who we are."