CelticsLife Awards 2017: Best Performance in Defeat, Regular Season

It's the ninth edition of the 2017 CelticsLife Awards, which, for you initiates, is the CelticsLife writer's choices for the best of the best of the 2016-17 Boston Celtics season. We're taking the best basketball we saw from the Celts across categories like Best Performance in Defeat, Regular Season (which this article covers), along with many other such awards, with earlier iterations in this series linked at the bottom of the article. We've expanded the award categories to account for the extended postseason run, splitting them into regular season and playoff categories (when relevant) to account for all of the of the fantastic basketball we've seen this season. So, housekeeping finished, let's dive into the ninth award's nominees:

CANDIDATES: BEST PERFORMANCE IN DEFEAT, REGULAR SEASON

Avery Bradley versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, 11.03.16; 26 points, 10 rebounds



Avery Bradley versus the San Antonio Spurs, 12.14.17; 25 points, 10 rebounds



 Isaiah Thomas versus the Portland Trailblazers, 01.21.17; 41 points, six assists



Al Horford versus the Philadelphia 76ers, 03.19.17; 27 points, eight rebounds, six assists



Justin Quinn: Yet again, it’s pretty hard to argue against a monster night from the King in the Fourth given the 41-point, 6 assist fight he brought to the floor versus the Portland Trailblazers in January. Still, I had to ask myself if Al Horford’s near-one-man-show against the Philadelphia 76ers in March is on a similar level given he tore down eight boards to go with his 27 points and 6 assists. Thomas takes the hardware yet again for me in the end, though.

Mark Allison: I’m going with Isaiah’s 41-point night against Portland if only because I remember that game very vividly. Terry Rozier drained that big three-pointer to send the game into overtime, but it was Thomas who carried the offense all night whilst trying to fend off both CJ McCollum (with 35 points) and Damian Lillard (adding 28).

Luis Gonzalez: Anytime one of our guys has a great game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, I get a little giddy. Sure, it was a loss but Avery Bradley logging 26 and 10 obviously didn’t go unnoticed. Bradley has quietly been one of our best players throughout the years and games like this, against top tier competition, puts the league on notice - not only can he be a shutdown defender, he can also score with the best of em’.

WINNER: Isaiah Thomas versus the Portland Trailblazers, 01.21.17; 41 points, six assists



PREVIOUSLY: Best Individual Performance, Regular Season ; Best Individual Performance, Playoffs ; Game of the Year, Regular Season ; Game of the Year, Playoffs ; Play of the Year, Regular Season ; Play of the Year, Playoffs ; Most Improved Celtic ; Front Office Move of the Year
For more stories about the 2016-17 season on CelticsLife, click here. For more by Justin, click here.



Photo via AP/NBC
Follow Justin at @justinquinnn

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