Bradley soon returned to the starting lineup on November 22 and proved himself highly capable in either role, immediately managing two games in a row with at least 25 points and 13 in a row with at least 10 points. Bradley missed three games in early January with a hip injury, and upon his return, the Celtics emerged as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Bradley contributed a number of memorable performances. On January 27, he scored 21 of his season-high tying 27 points in the first half of the Celtics' 111–103 win over the Denver Nuggets. On February 5, he connected on a game-winning three-pointer to give Boston a 104–103 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. On February 29, he blocked a shot from Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward with 23 seconds left in the game to give the Celtics a win. For the season, Bradley was his team's second leading scorer, behind only All-Star Isaiah Thomas. With a 48–34 record, the Celtics finished the regular season in a four-way tie for the third seed in Eastern Conference and were assigned the fifth seed based on tiebreaker rules. Drawing the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics narrowly lost in Game 1, as Bradley scored 18 points but went down in the fourth quarter with an apparent right hamstring injury. The injury turned out to be serious enough to sideline Bradley for the rest of the series, which turned out to be a crippling blow for the Celtics. They were considerably outplayed by the Hawks in his absence, particularly on offense, and lost the series in six games. However, Bradley's sixth NBA season was both an individual and team success, capped off when he was included in the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Bradley and the Celtics both continued to improve in 2016–17. Beginning with an opening night 17-point performance that included 3 of 4 three-point shooting, Bradley enjoyed his most effective offensive season, although injuries limited him to just 55 games. Starting every game he played, Bradley was remarkably consistent, with double digit scoring in 50 of his 55 regular season contests. At his best, he was an outstanding weapon from three-point range. In the Celtics' third game of the season, for instance, Bradley scored 31 points on a career-high eight three-pointers, also managing 11 rebounds, as the Celtics defeated the Charlotte Hornets. Bradley's season scoring average of 16.3 points per game was a career high, while his 39.0 three-point percentage was his best since 2013–14.