Larry Bird and Kevin McHale know that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown didn't let a shortened offseason bother them one bit. They're off to a hot start for the Boston Celtics this 2021 NBA season. With starting point guard Kemba Walker out, these two swingmen have carried the load and spearheaded the Celtics to a 5-3 start.

On Monday, these two were at it again as they led the Celtics to a huge statement win over the Toronto Raptors with a 126-114 away win.

The two young superstars took center stage once again and continued their stellar run to put themselves in the same conversation as Celtics legends. After scoring 40 and 19 respectively, Tatum and Brown have now become the first Boston duo to go over 200 points within the first eight games of the season since Larry Bird and Kevin McHale did the feat in the 1986-87 season.

Tatum was virtually automatic all-evening as he shot 11-19 from the field including 5-8 from three-point distance and made all of his 13 free throws for the Celtics. 40 is also Tatum's season-high and is now averaging 26.2 points this season.

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For Brown, Monday was actually one of his worst games so far this season. His 19-point total is his second-lowest outing in eight games as he's leading the way for the Celtics on both ends of the court. The 24-year-old has found ways to get buckets this season and is scoring at a career-high rate of 26.9 points per game in eight games. He also dropped 42 over the Memphis Grizzlies on their last game of 2020.

The duo of Bird and McHale brought home three NBA titles from 1981-1986 which means Tatum and Brown have their work cut out for them. Based on what we've seen so far though, these young Celtics look ready to bring home some banners to The Garden and lift this franchise past the Eastern Conference Finals, the hump this team hasn't been able to clear in recent seasons.