This is how good it’s been for the Celtics this young season: They beat Philadelphia, on the road no less, by 31 points Tuesday night (105-74 — check out the game recap here) and they did it despite turning in perhaps their worst quarter of the season with a 12-minute blah-fest to open the game.

Turnovers, missed shots, zero ball movement. These all are hallmarks of bad Boston offense and they were in abundance early against the Sixers. And the C's still won by 31 points.

Here’s the scary part for the rest of the NBA. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins never did get going, shooting a combined 4-for-18. The rest of the team shot 37-for-54 and was an unconscious 14-for-20 from behind the arc.

The Celtics were so good that even though they led 69-54 after three quarters, you could make a very convincing argument that they really weren’t playing that well. They’re making it look very easy.

Here are three more things we learned Tuesday night:

PAUL PIERCE IS VERY QUIETLY DESTROYING THE NBA

The NBA announced its first Players of the Week winners and while it wasn’t surprising that the honors went to Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, it was a little surprising that Paul Pierce wasn’t even a finalist in USA Today’s weekly online poll. Or maybe it’s not so surprising considering how efficiently Pierce has been torching his competition.

Pierce has been lights-out this season, shooting 59 percent from the floor and better than 50 percent from 3-point range. The rest of his numbers are just as staggering. He’s averaging just under 22 points and seven rebounds in only 32 minutes of action a night. From the way-too-early department, his True Shooting percentage was sitting at an off-the-charts .760 before the night began.  

Even when Pierce is off, as he was in the first half against Philly, he still filled the stat sheet to the tune of eight points, three rebounds and four assists. In the second half Pierce took off, scoring seven quick points to push an eight-point lead into double digits and the rout was on.

It’s how Pierce is scoring that is most encouraging. Obviously, he’s not going to shoot 50 percent on 3-pointers all season, but he has been mixing up all the elements of his game and finishing with emphatic authority at the basket.

The Celtics also have not had to rely on getting Pierce the ball in high post-up situations at the elbow. While Pierce excels in this set, it is a certified ball-stopper of a play and is really only used best as a matter of last resort at the end of quarters and games when they need one shot. They haven’t had to use it because Pierce is getting his points and shots in the rhythm of the offense, and that’s a very good thing, indeed, for the rest of the Celtics.

And defensively? Pierce held Thaddeus Young, a gifted, athletic marvel, to 4-of-16 shooting and a minus-29 in unadjusted boxscore plus/minus. That’s a dominating performance.

SHEED LOVES PHILLY

It’s hard to overemphasize how much of a connection Rasheed Wallace has to his hometown of Philadelphia. He was a high school legend in a city that boasts a who’s who of basketball talent (Wilt Chamberlain, Tom Gola, Walt Hazzard, Paul Arizin, Earl Monroe and on and on) and is remembered as one of the finest athletes in the city’s history.

Wallace joked that his friends and family didn’t take too kindly to his signing with the Celtics (just try having a Russell vs. Wilt argument in that town.) But the good people of Philly know quality basketball when they see it, and they can’t begrudge Sheed the opportunity to play with a team that so perfectly blends his talents into an overall team structure.

Much has been made of Wallace’s 3-point shooting, and Tuesday night he lived out behind the arc again, sinking 6-of-8 from long range en route to 20 points. But on his very first touch of the game, Wallace received the ball in the post and flicked home a turnaround jumper for an easy two points.

Why was that so significant? Because on the Celtics' first 19 possessions before Wallace went inside, they had scored exactly eight points. They desperately needed something easy offensively and Wallace did what was needed by working down low. Of course he then drifted back outside and started raining 3’s on everyone’s head, which completely opened the game back up, but before all that he did exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

Later in the game Wallace picked up his first technical foul of the season, which is something of a milestone considering how many people worried about all the techs he might rack up this season. Fitting that it happened in Philly, whose residents are known to have something of a tough exterior and an undying belief in their unique ability to be right about everything.

SHELDEN WILLIAMS CAN REBOUND

Five games does not an NBA career make, and after three frustrating seasons Shelden Williams has a lot more to prove before he will be accepted as a night-in, night-out contributor.

But if there’s one thing Williams has always been able to do, it’s rebound. For his career he has averaged more than 10 boards a game per 36 minutes. Of course, Williams has never been afforded the luxury of playing 36 minutes because the rest of his game has its limitations.

On this Celtics team, at this point in the season, the only thing that Williams truly has to deliver is rebounds, and last night he pulled down seven more of them to go with 11 points in what was another successful outing.

It’s too early to make this comparison, but we’ll throw it out there anyway.

Eddie House is one of the most dangerous 3-point shooters in the league. He always has been, and he always will be for as long as he wears the headband.

But before he came to Boston, House struggled to find a niche on other teams that always focused on the things that he couldn’t do, like run the point or defend taller players. The Celtics recognized that and have put him in a position to use his singular talent to its utmost potential. That, along with large amounts of hustle and professionalism, has landed House a semi-permanent home.

If he keeps rebounding like he has, Williams has a chance to find a home in Boston, much like House has. That’s really all he has to do, along with play defense and block the occasional shot, to be a significant rotation piece for this team.

Give Williams credit for this: He has taken advantage of Glen Davis’ injury and parlayed it into a much longer look with the Celtics then anyone realistically thought he would get before the beginning of the season. It’s on him to keep producing, but if he does, he may find some permanence to his star-crossed career.