In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on May 17, Love scored a playoff career-high 32 points and had 12 rebounds to help the Cavaliers improve to 9–0 in the first three rounds of the playoffs, defeating the Celtics 117–104. With 15 points in Game 5 of the series, Love helped the Cavaliers defeat the Celtics 135–102 to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title and a return trip to the NBA Finals. After going down 3–0 in the 2017 NBA Finals, Love made six 3-pointers and had 23 points in Game 4 to help Cleveland extend the series and avoid a sweep with a 137–116 win over the Warriors. The Cavaliers went on to lose to the Warriors in Game 5, thus losing the series 4–1.