INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Tyronn Lue received the same amount of votes from his peers as Brad Stevens for top NBA coach honors this season.

Zero. None. Nada.

"He's one of those guys like LeBron, he can win it every year," Lue said of Stevens, comparing the situation to LeBron James being passed over for MVP.

"But this year some coaches did some amazing things."

All right, let's get to the bottom of this. First of all, Lue didn't have a vote in the second-annual National Basketball Coaches Association's second-annual award, because he was out sick at the time. Larry Drew cast the Cavs' ballot -- it's unclear for whom Drew voted.

Secondly, Stevens, who is in fifth season as the Celtics' coach, did not win the award last year, nor has he ever won the coach of the year award recognized by the NBA, which is given annually by media covering the league.

And yet players (even LeBron) and media across the league do backflips over Stevens as a coach, especially this season, when the team lost its top two players to season-ending injuries (one, Gordon Hayward, on opening night; the other, Kyrie Irving, in March) and still finished second in the East. Boston is playing Lue's Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.

Now, given that the NBA's coaching award is given by the media (cleveland.com did not have a vote this year), Stevens is virtually assured of getting lots of votes -- perhaps winning.

It's also a mystery how, given the seemingly universal opinion of Stevens in the league, how precisely none of his fellow coaches voted for him.

Dwane Casey, who was fired as Raptors coach on Friday, won the coaches' award.

"Indiana traded Paul George, they said they were going to be last in the East," Lue said, in crediting Pacers coach Nate McMillan. "I thought Nate did a great job. I thought Casey coming into it, being two, three last couple years, but to finish first and have the second-best record in the NBA. That's big. I thought (Terry) Stotts, what he did in Portland ... they had extraordinary seasons."

In dissecting this matchup of coaches in the Eastern finals, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone arguing for Lue to have gotten votes. Actually, in Cleveland, Lue has his fair share of detractors -- fans who take to social media, emails, and radio shows to tear down the only coach in franchise history who's won a championship.

His lineups stink. His rotations, yuck. Where's the adjustment? Play Ante Zizic. No, play Cedi Osman.

Lue and the Cavs may have had a rough season by their standards. They finished fourth during the regular season after coming off three straight Finals berths. They had to tear up the roster on Feb. 8 when neither Lue nor the players could make the mix of talent work.

Lue missed two weeks to get his personal health in order after missing all or parts of three games earlier in the season because he was ill.

The Cavs were 29th in defense (the Celtics were No. 1). LeBron played all 82 games and the Cavs lost one more game than they did a year ago -- he missed eight games last season and the team lost all eight.

But Lue uses the regular season as a canvas to paint his playoff picture. He tries lineups, rotations and coverages that may or may not work, and he withholds others for the postseason because he knows they will work.

Also, he listens to his boss, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert -- who told him in a text message early this season to dare to be different.

"Dan Gilbert told me ... you've gotta try new things," Lue said. "Like, in business you gotta try new things. If it works, you're a genius, if not, you change and do something else. I just think you gotta try things and kinda see how your team reacts to it."

In the text message, viewed by cleveland.com, Gilbert told Lue: "philosophically, sometimes I think we should NOT be afraid to fail as much as we seem to be."

The Cavs had terrible stretches to start the season and again in January, where they were being blown out and losing to bottom-dwelling teams. They were nearly bounced in the first round by Indiana.

But, heading into the conference finals, they swept the Raptors last round and are playing their best basketball.

Stevens is 41. He's never had the Cavs' talent. He's also guided Boston to four straight playoff berths and two Eastern finals.

Lue, 40, has LeBron. But Lue's also never lost a game in the second round, and he's 8-3 lifetime in the conference finals.

It was also Lue in the huddle in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, challenging James to be better. The Cavs won that game and their first-ever title.

Pundits and fans will give Stevens the edge over Lue heading into this series.

"I don't even think Ty really even cares," said Jeff Green, who played for Stevens his first year in Boston and is with Lue now. "I think he's more concerned about what he needs to do.

"I don't think it's a secret," Green continued. "First off, you look at the years he's been a head coach, just like Brad, he's put his players in a good position to succeed."