The Boston Bruins opened up a new chapter under interim head coach Joe Sacco and while the results are showing, the locker room is feeling a change of direction too.

Boston defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 in overtime, on Tuesday night for the second time since Sacco took over for Jim Montgomery. Much like their recent trip to Detroit in November, the Bruins were put to the test in terms of their patience, defensive poise and ability to score in a timely fashion.

The Black and Gold passed, needless to say, and credit Sacco’s step up to the helm at the team’s recent click, putting them now at 13-11-3 on the year.

“I think we’re playing with a passion,” Nikita Zadorov told reporters, per team-provided audio. “I think we’re playing with pride. I think we’re playing for each other. I thought we were disconnected before. That’s what wasn’t working. I don’t think we fixed much X’s and O’s. I think it’s the same system, the same game plans. We’re just doing it this time.”

Zadorov added: “If one guy makes mistakes, other guys are gonna clean up for them. So I think that’s the main change from the start of the year.”

The Bruins were cornered once Detroit’s Lucas Raymond scored his second goal of the night in the third period to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. It might’ve uplifted Detroit’s bench, however, it wasn’t strong enough for a knockout blow to put Boston away for good. Justin Brazeau had a response of his own for the Red Wings, giving the Bruins new life heading into overtime.

Pavel Zacha, at 2:15 into overtime, took care of the night from there with the game-decider.

“Anytime that we can go out there, especially at that point in the game when you’re down a goal, and that power play unit goes out there and puts one in, it lifts the team is what it does,” Sacco said, per team-provided audio. “It helps the spirit on the bench. It lifts people up as opposed to bringing us down so that was a good sign. That was a positive sign.”

It’s only been seven games, but the Bruins are yet to lose on back-to-back occasions under Sacco, racking up a handful of their season’s most impressive wins in the process.

Here are more notes from Tuesday night’s Bruins-Red Wings game:

— Boston improved to 5-2 under Sacco’s leadership.

— Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who held the Red Wings scoreless in the second period, recorded 27 saves on the night. The 30-year-old has notched 20-plus saves in each of last six starts for Boston.

“He deserves a lot of credit for the way he’s come in and played under tough situations sometimes,” Sacco said, per team-provided audio”Tonight he got the beginning of a back-to-back but sometimes he doesn’t. He may get the end of the back-to-backs and he’s just been really solid for us. Really all you can ask from your goaltender is to give your team a chance to win and he’s done that on most nights.”

— Zadorov’s first-period goal clocked in at 90.46 miles per hour, according to Bruins Correspondent Shawn Hutcheon, marking the fastest goal from a Boston player this season.

“He was engaged in the game tonight,” Sacco said, per team-provided audio. “He was physical, and he was just defending hard tonight. When he was on the ice, the opposition knew that he was playing.”

— The Red Wings, now 10-11-4, have lost three straight games.

— The Bruins will next hit the road and head to the Windy City for a meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Puck drop from United Center is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and that matchup will be aired on TNT.

When Miami started the game on a 7-0 run, I thought it was going to be one of those games where Boston was going to have to grind to find a way to win. Coming off of a back-to-back, a dogfight is the last game these players needed. Then the Celtics went on a 14-2 run to establish control and outscored Miami 60-45 in the first half with 10 threes, and 15 assists on 21 field goals.

My ratings which are based on my expectations will range from A-F with C being considered an “average” game for that individual player. There’s no +/-, just the letter.

Jaylen Brown: A

Season stats: 24.7 ppg, 6.3 reb, 4.3 ast, 1.1 stl, 0.4 blk

Tonight: 29 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks

Jaylen was aggressive from tip-off. Although his shot didn’t fall right away, he made it a point of emphasis to get to the paint and get to the free throw line.

It’s one thing to get to the free throw line, it’s another to make them. Brown this season and in the past has had his issues at the charity stripe, but on Monday he drained 9 of his 10 free throws.

Brown had 16 first-half points to pace Boston and finished the second half strong with another 13 points. He had a big three early in the third quarter to snap Miami’s 7-0 start which put the Heat back in their place.

Derrick White: A

Season stats: 18.3 ppg, 4.7 reb, 4.4 ast, 0.8 stl, 1.1 blk

Tonight: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks

With Jrue Holiday out, White was the primary ball handler. White did a great job of moving the ball registering three assists in the first six minutes of the game and seven first-half dimes.

White has been Mr. Consistent all season because you know what you’re going to get from him on a night-in, night-out basis. On a night without Porzingis, Holiday, and Horford, he was going to have to step up his playmaking ability and he did that while maintaining his defensive intensity.

In the fourth quarter, Derrick just destroyed any hope of Miami coming back with back-to-back threes. I hope his pockets are always filled with threes.

Jayson Tatum: C

Season stats: 28.9 ppg, 8.5 reb, 5.7 ast, 1.4 stl, 0.6 blk,

Tonight: 18 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steals, 0 blocks.

I was close to giving Jayson a D for his performance but with his shot not falling, he was able to find a way to make an impact by crashing the glass. Finishing the game with a double-double with 11 rebounds and 18 points.

During the game, Tatum struggled from three and instead of trying to attack the paint, he continued to shoot threes which didn’t help. Also, six turnovers are way too much for your superstar. But I still think he played well on defense to justify an average game.

Jordan Walsh: C

Season stats: 1.5 pg, 0.9 reb, 0.2 ast, 0.3 stl, 0.4 blk

Tonight: 0 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks

The second-year player out of Arkansas got his second career start. Walsh struggled at times to keep his defender in front of him and didn’t give Boston much on the offensive end. Still great experience and more reps under the belt and his athleticism will always help him find minutes on the floor but wasn’t that great of a night for Walsh.

Luke Kornet: A

Season stats: 4.1 ppg, 4.1 reb, 1.5 ast, 0.5 stl, 0.9 blk

Tonight: 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 6 blocks

Luke started the game strong, scoring the team’s first four points with a dunk and a post move against Bam Adebayo. Then Kornet went into DPOY type of energy finishing the game with six blocks. His sixth block led to a Jayson Tatum three which brought the fans out of their seats. Overall, it was a great game for Luke who needed to play well with Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis out.

Payton Pritchard: A

Season stats: 16 ppg, 3 reb, 2.9 ast, 1.1 stl, 0.1 blk

Tonight: 25 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

I’m starting to run out of words to praise Pritchard. Checked into the game and scored 10 quick points on 4-of-5 shooting, he’s established himself as a certified bucket in the league. He became the first Celtics player to score 20+ points in four straight games off the bench since Isaiah Thomas in 2015.

Of course, he secured another buzzer beater to add to his resume to close the third quarter getting into his bag before hitting a lefty layup.

Neemias Queta: C

Season stats: 6.4 ppg, 5.2 reb, 0.8 ast, 0.2 stl, 0.9 blk

Tonight: 4 points, 7 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 2 blocks

Struggled with foul trouble early but did a great job attacking the boards. Was expecting a bigger night from him offensively with KP and Horford out, but didn’t have much to offer. Still a solid game from the Portuguese man.

Xavier Tillman Sr.: D

Season stats: 1.4 ppg, 2.2 reb, 0.5 ast, 0.2 stl, 0.2 blk

Tonight: 0 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks

The X-man didn’t make as much of an impact as others. Played hard on defense but stood out. I still believe he’ll make an impact later in the season/postseason but for today’s performance think he was a bit below average.

Drew Peterson: B

Season stats: 2 ppg, 1.2 reb, 0.2 ast, 0.5 stl 0.5 blk

Tonight: 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks

After a solid performance against the Cavs, Peterson did his job tonight. Was very active on both ends of the floor. Peterson showed his range with a corner three in the fourth quarter but used his 6’9 height to snag seven rebounds.

I liked his stare down at Miami’s bench after burying a three in front of them.

Baylor Scheierman: C

Season stats: 1 ppg, 1.5 reb, 0.2 ast, 0 stl 0 blk

Tonight: 0 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks

The rookie played solid on-ball defense when guarding Jaime Jaquez Jr. Had a beautiful assist to Jaylen Brown for a corner three when he found himself stuck in the paint. Other than that, didn’t do too much to stick out, but like Walsh, these minutes are valuable to his development.

JD Davison & Jaden Springer: N/A

Not enough time for either to make an impact, but Springer did have a nice steal late in the quarter.

What do you get when you combine the Celtics’ thinnest roster of the season with one of Jayson Tatum’s shakiest showings of 2024-25?

Evidently, an easy Boston victory.

Down two starters and two of its top reserves, the Celtics blew out a similarly shorthanded Miami Heat squad 108-89 on Monday night at TD Garden.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 29 points on 8-of-21 shooting, with Payton Pritchard delivering another stellar performance off the bench (25 points on 10-of-17, including 5-of-12 from 3-point range). Derrick White added 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds in his return from a foot injury, and Luke Kornet tied his career high with six blocked shots.

Tatum had 18 points and 11 rebounds and committed a season-high six turnovers.

Miami, which was playing without All-Star Jimmy Butler and five other players, shot 35.6% from the floor and 22.9% from three and trailed by double digits for most of the second half.

Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford sat out on the second night of a back-to-back, with the previous night’s injury issues forcing head coach Joe Mazzulla to play both in a road loss to Cleveland rather than staggering their games off. Jrue Holiday also was ruled out with a knee injury, and Sam Hauser was a late scratch for personal reasons, leaving Boston without four of its core rotation players.

Tatum, Brown and White all were listed as questionable before getting the green light, with Brown and White returning after missing the Cavaliers game. Mazzulla called Brown (illness) a game-time decision, and his availability was not confirmed until after his pregame warmup.

From that group, Mazzulla assembled a brand-new starting lineup, plucking Kornet and Jordan Walsh off the bench to join Tatum, Brown and White. It was just the second career start for Walsh, a 2024 second-round draft pick who was coming off back-to-back healthy DNPs and hadn’t played more than eight minutes in any game since Nov. 8.

The Celtics fell into an early 7-0 hole but reeled off a 17-2 run to surge ahead. Kornet fueled that push with three makes at the rim, including one off a White alley-oop.

Boston is the NBA’s most prolific 3-point shooting team, but its first made three didn’t come until the 5:44 mark of the first quarter, after Mazzulla had subbed in an almost entirely new second unit that surrounded Tatum with Pritchard, Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman and Drew Peterson.

Peterson is a two-way player who’d seen minimal NBA playing time before his surprise 25-minute shift Sunday night. Tillman has struggled to crack the rotation since the opening week of the season.

Tatum hit two threes after the line change but went just 3-for-10 from the floor in the first quarter. The Celtics took a slim 28-25 lead into the second.

That advantage then spiked thanks to Pritchard and Brown, who combined to score Boston’s next 14 points. Two threes from White and one from Peterson helped the Celtics stretch their lead to 17 points, and it sat at 60-45 at halftime.

The second quarter also featured three Kornet blocks and a cameo from Baylor Scheierman — the first meaningful minutes of the first-round draft pick’s young career. Scheierman, who’s been developing in the G League, notched a rebound, an assist and a steal and was a plus-7, though he looked like he’s still adjusting to the speed of the NBA game.

The Celtics slogged through an ugly start to the second half that included Tatum turnovers on three consecutive possessions and a 7-0 Miami run. The Heat got to within eight before Boston recovered, holding the visitors to one made field goal over the next seven minutes. By the time that slump ended, the rout was on, with a Brown 3-pointer putting the Celtics up 78-57 with 3:05 remaining in the third.

Another of Pritchard’s patented buzzer-beaters — this one a slick driving layup rather than a long-range three — extended Boston’s lead to 22 entering the final quarter. The Celtics outscored the Heat 25-18 in the third despite turning the ball over nine times.

This was the fourth straight 20-point performance for Pritchard, who continues to strengthen his case for NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

Peterson, who spent time with Miami’s G League affiliate as an undrafted rookie last season, stared down the Heat bench after hitting a fourth-quarter 3-pointer. The 6-foot-9 wing showed potential in his fill-in stints this week, finishing Monday’s game with seven points on 2-of-5 shooting and seven rebounds.

Mazzulla emptied what was left of his bench in the final minutes, inserting JD Davison and Jaden Springer with the victory secured.

The Celtics will host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday before playing another back-to-back against Milwaukee and Memphis on Friday and Saturday. They’ll also find out their NBA Cup fate on Tuesday, as the outcomes of Knicks-Magic and Bucks-Pistons will determine whether Boston advances to the knockout rounds of the in-season tournament.

Originally Published: December 2, 2024 at 9:46 PM EST