But with the youthful Thunder in their rearview mirror, the Celtics were bothered by something.

They are 7-3 at home, with a game in the Garden Tuesday night against the Bucks before they take off again on a three-city road trip. It's time to tighten up - again.

``I think we're where we want to be, especially on the road,'' said Rajon Rondo. ``The key at home is getting off to good starts. We've done a great job on the road, but now we have a home game Tuesday and we have to carry it over, keep going, and keep getting better.''

That means keeping up the self-critique.

Doc Rivers was pleased when several players - most notably Kendrick Perkins - expressed dissatisfaction after Thursday night's win in San Antonio. Perkins appeared to be more bothered by the fact that the Spurs grabbed 20 offensive rebounds than impressed by a win in what is always one of the toughest road stops in the league.

But this is how Rivers knows that his team has remained on message.

``We're (9-1 on the road) and it's great,'' said the Celtics coach. ``But I read the comments from some of our guys in San Antonio, and what I liked is that a lot of them weren't happy with how we played.

``Those are good signs for your team,'' said Rivers. ``We're winning games and we're very happy with the record, but we're not a finished product either.''

Osmosis may take care of the rest. The Celtics don't necessarily know why they are improving, but they can see that improvement spreading.

``I don't know if I'm learning anything,'' said Pierce. ``I know we're just continuing to get better, and continuing to build. It's a long season, and that's the key for us. We don't get excited because it's a seven-game winning streak. The whole goal for us is to continue to play. We learn from wins and losses and continue to get better.

``We know what it takes to be on the road,'' he said. ``We're not new to this. We all have the mindset that we have to take care of business. It was a great road trip.''

Kevin Garnett has a unique perspective, simply because he is gauging his own improvement and recovery from knee surgery, as well as the steps being taken by his team.

His own improvement - especially on offense - has been significant. He averaged 20.7 points on 35-of-46 shooting during the four-game road trip, and also appears to be covering more ground on defense.

Team-wide, he senses a dramatic improvement defensively.

``For us, man, it's just about getting better,'' said Garnett. ``On the court, we're a better product than what we put out there some nights. It's just about being consistent, man. What's given us hope on the road has been our defensive communication.

``We've been loud - consistently loud - and talking,'' he said. ``We really get into it. This was not an easy thing to do. Charlotte and (Oklahoma City), these guys played unbelievable Basketball, and you had Miami and San Antonio which are veteran teams that can blow you out.

``So this was by far not easy. We just made it look easy.''

And that means there's lots of arc remaining on the learning curve.

``Obviously our rebounding has to get better,'' said Marquis Daniels. ``We have to continue to get better on the road and protect our homecourt. It's execution. There's a lot of things we can get better at.''

But at least one player can see a destination.

``Almost there,'' said Rondo. ``It's not complete, but it's almost there. Not quite the 48 minutes that we need, but we're almost there.''

- mrmurphy@bostonherald.com