A week ago when the Celtics left town for a four-game road trip, things appeared to be at their breaking point. Doc Rivers called them out and called them selfish after a no-excuses loss to the Bobcats. This trip would either make or break their regular season. Or so it appeared.

A week later, what have we learned? They lost one game because they couldn’t stop the Pacers from scoring and another to the Hawks (88-83, click here for a full recap) because they couldn’t score themselves. They were also fortunate to escape with an ugly win against a Minnesota team that didn’t have Kevin Love and have proven beyond a shadow of doubt that back-to-backs are simply no good for them.

But the Celtics also showed that when they really wanted to – and with a proper break between games -- they could still turn it one and beat one of the NBA’s elite teams with a thrilling win over the Spurs.

So, where are they now? The truth is no one really knows and in the absence of any certainty, a familiar sense of nervous anticipation hangs over them as they head down the home stretch of the regular season.

Rajon Rondo appears to have shaken loose from his lethargy, but only played like the Rondo they need for one full game. Ray Allen still isn’t getting enough shots. Glen Davis continues his long-running fascination with his inconsistent jumper. Paul Pierce has moments of brilliance mixed with too-quick shots and contested 3’s, and the play of the second unit has also been uneven at best and nonexistent at worst.

Adding to all that is the uncertain future of Nenad Krstic who is scheduled to have an MRI in Boston on Saturday on his knee. Jermaine O’Neal came back and is moving better than he did when he left, but obviously needs time to get his rhythm back. Oh, and Shaquille O’Neal may play Sunday. Or Tuesday. Or not.

In short, we still don’t know anything about this team except that time is running out on their season-long quest for better seeding in the playoffs. A week and a half ago they were tied with the Bulls for the best record in the Eastern Conference and now they are a half-game behind Miami for second and three back of Chicago.

Asked about the importance of seeding after the Hawks loss, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “It’s important to be healthy. We would like to get one or two, but we would really like to be healthy.”

If it’s not obvious by now, it should be. The Celtics seem prepared to try and duplicate last season’s feat of getting to the finals with only one round of homecourt advantage. There’s a reason that run was so unique. Teams with homecourt advantage in the NBA win their series over 75 percent of the time. Last season was an anomaly, not the rule and while they’re not going to concede the next seven games, Rivers isn’t going to burn his stars out to get it either.

Rondo played just 32 minutes against the Hawks and Kevin Garnett played only 27 despite the Celtics getting absolutely crushed on the boards by longtime nemesis Zaza Pachulia. We know one thing at least: They can’t compete inside without Krstic, Shaq and 16 minutes of Jermaine O’Neal. Davis would be better served by playing half his minutes at center instead of 30 and Jeff Green isn’t the answer as a backup four without a legitimate center around him. But that’s what they have for the moment.

Beyond that obvious realization, the problems the Celtics are having are either self-inflicted or unfixable. They still are not working hard enough on offense to get good shots and open looks. Will that magically disappear once the playoffs start?

Through three quarters, the Hawks scored 62 points and shot less than 40 percent. The Celtics allowed them to score 26 in the fourth and put them on the free throw for 13 shot attempts. Was that a function of the back-to-back, playing on the road or are they simply worn out?

What makes the Celtics so maddeningly frustrating right now is that they continue to lose games with the same pattern. Decent stretches of solid play are wiped out in the blink of minutes from one set of rotations to the next. They painstakingly built an 11-point lead with two minutes left in the third quarter and then saw it disappear by the time the 9-minute mark of the fourth rolled around.

When they were at the peak of their powers, turning around a four-point deficit was routine. Now it feels like 40. They missed free throws, didn’t stop dribble penetration and were beat on the boards. On offense, every possession felt the urgency of do or die and they too often perished with a poor shot or bad decision.

This same game has played out night after night and week after week since early March, only the opponents and circumstances change. Outside of the Spurs game, the Celtics haven’t put together a complete game in weeks and once one problem is solved, another emerges just as quickly.

It seems unlikely that they will provide any of the answers before the playoffs start in two weeks. They have showdown games with the Bulls and Heat this week and maybe those contests will provide a clue. The Celtics have earned the benefit of the doubt over the years, but right now doubt is the clear frontrunner.