So maybe the problem for the Celtics the last few weeks was that they just needed to get out of town. Two days after closing out Miami on the road with some vintage Celtics defense down the stretch, the C’s routed Charlotte, 108-90, with great offense and defense. (Recap.)

For weeks, Doc Rivers has been lamenting his team’s inability to put together 48-minute games, but Tuesday night against the Bobcats may have been the Celtics’ finest overall performance since jumping out of the gate with five straight wins. While they didn’t show it against the Celtics, Charlotte is no longer a pushover. The Cats had won four straight and handily beat the Cavaliers last week.

Things change rapidly in this league, but it’s worth noting that as late a week ago, keen observers were staring at this four-game road trip as a benchmark for the Celtics. Halfway in, they are looking like an elite team once again.

Here are three other things we learned:

PERK IS A BEAST, AND MAYBE AN ALL-STAR

Kendrick Perkins is often the overlooked man on the Celtics roster. He doesn’t have the pedigree of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. He doesn’t have the hype, the expectations or the contract like Rajon Rondo. He’s also in danger of losing his unofficial moniker of best locker room quote to new addition Rasheed Wallace. But he does have game, and it’s getting better all the time.

Perkins systematically destroyed Tyson Chandler, who isn’t exactly a slouch defensively, by going to work early and often. That isn’t a huge surprise. The Celtics often run a few plays through Perkins at the beginning of games to get him into the flow and establish a low-post game.

The difference Tuesday was that they kept going back to him and he kept responding.

“The key for us was to attack the paint,” Rivers told reporters after the game. “Perk tonight was a beast. He was tremendous.”

Rivers rightly pointed out that, aside from Chandler, the Bobcats don’t really have a second shot-blocker, and the best way to attack a shot-blocker such as Chandler is to go right through him. (Gerald Wallace would qualify, but he picked up two quick fouls and rarely saw the court in the first half.) 

Perkins scored a season-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting to go with 12 rebounds. It was his fifth straight double-digit scoring game, his second straight double-double and his third in the last five games. 

In his seventh season, Perkins has established himself as one of the NBA’s best interior defenders. By now most people have caught on that the Celtics often match him up with the opposition’s best offensive big man, which frees up Garnett to be a superior help defender. That should get Perkins votes for the All-Defensive team this season.

If he can continue developing his offensive game, Perkins could earn All-Star consideration. Orlando’s Dwight Howard clearly is the best true center in the game, but Perkins is among a handful of players in the East who could emerge for a second spot. It’s still a longshot at this point, but he deserves to be in the conversation.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT RAY ALLEN

It happens every year. Ray Allen goes through something of a shooting slump and everyone begins to wonder if this is it for the veteran sharpshooter. Allen shot just 25 percent on 3-pointers in the month of November (14-for-56) and the whispers started up again.

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One game does not a hot streak make, but Allen was back on the mark against the Bobcats, scoring 27 points and knocking down 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. It’s worth remembering something that Allen said before the season started.

“Tell me that I’m getting too old,” he said. “Give me the ball and let’s see what happens.”

Allen may still be shooting a very un-Allen like 30 percent from 3-point range, but he has still been an effective offensive player by shooting better than 55 percent inside the arc and making 93 percent of his free throws.

His plus/minus numbers are among the best on the team, and according to 82games.com, he has been the best of the starting five when teamed with the second unit.

It’s also worth remembering that Allen had a late-career spike in his shooting numbers last season, which probably is not sustainable. In other words, he was due for a slight downturn.

Someday, Allen won’t be able to score anymore. Someday, he won’t be able to knock down shots and make other teams pay for doubling down or helping on a slasher. That day isn’t here yet, and it’s far too early to think otherwise.

SHELDEN WILLIAMS NEEDS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE

On a team with so many known factors, Shelden Williams qualified as the biggest, and probably only, surprise during the first month of the season. Thrown into the rotation after Glen Davis broke his hand in a fight before the season-opener, Williams responded by rebounding everything in sight and playing strong interior defense.

After bouncing around the NBA for three seasons, Williams appeared to have finally found a role, and a home. But after recording 10 points and nine rebounds in a mid-November loss to the Pacers, Williams has seen his playing time and his numbers start to erode.

Since the Pacers game, Williams is averaging just three points and two rebounds, and he has lost time to Brian Scalabrine. With Davis nearing a return to action, Williams may see his opportunities diminish even further. Williams logged 21 minutes against the Bobcats, but in the last five games he has averaged about eight minutes per night.

Regardless of how the rotation works itself out once Davis returns, Williams has shown that he can be a capable big man, which gives the Celtics five large bodies — or three more then they had in the playoffs once Leon Powe got hurt. But he needs to continue to take advantage of his opportunities while he still has them.