NBA: Top 10 moments of 2017

#3 Isaiah Thomas scores 53 on late sister's birthday

Last year was a roller coaster ride for Isaiah Thomas. He'd finally broken through as one of the elite players in the league, after years of being ridiculed for his size. He'd helped the Celtics clinch the Number 1 seed in the East and they looked set for their first proper run at a championship since the heydays of the big 3. Then, disaster struck. Isaiah's little sister, Chyna Thomas died in a car crash on April 15th, a day before the playoffs started.

An emotional Isaiah kept playing and on what would have been her 23rd Birthday, he put in the best performance of his career. Thomas scored 53 in a win over the rival Wizards, including 9 in Overtime. After the game, he said, "Today is my sister's birthday, She would've been 23 today, so the least I can do is go out there and play for her.".

We also, of course, learned later on that he was dealing with a nagging hip problem throughout the playoffs. One can only imagine the mental and physical pain the guy was going through during that stretch and to put up a performance like that was just incredible.