on june 1, 2016, stevens received a contract extension. on february 3, 2017, stevens was named the eastern conference head coach for the 2017 nba all-star game. in april 2017, in his fourth season as head coach, stevens led the celtics to the 2017 playoffs as the first seed in the eastern conference with a 53–29 record. they reached the eastern conference finals, where they lost to the defending champion cleveland cavaliers in five games.