Isaiah says Celtics aren't afraid of Cavs: 'They're not the Monstars'

It's been more than 20 years since the release of "Space Jam," but the specter of the mighty superteam depicted in that iconic film continues to hover over today's basketball landscape.

In the minds of some, even LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers - who routed the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday to run their postseason winning streak to 12 games - still live in the shadow of their talent-stealing, cartoon-alien predecessors.

"We're not afraid of Cleveland," Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas told reporters Thursday, according to CSN's A. Sherrod Blakely. "They're not the Monstars. They're not (in) 'Space Jam.'"

True enough (though James is slated to star in the sequel). In reality, while the stakes for the Celtics are less daunting than they were for Michael Jordan and the Tune Squad - they're fighting for a Finals berth, rather than freedom from a lifetime of enslavement on Moron Mountain - the Cavs are probably the more formidable foe.

For all their size, casual menace, and egregious physicality, the Monstars were officially 0-1 as a team, and as great as MJ was, there's really no excuse for losing to a squad comprised of him and a bunch of undersized, replacement-level Loony Tunes.

The Cavs, meanwhile, are now 33-4 in the East playoffs since James rejoined the team in 2014, and have been batting away their opponents like flies this spring. So kudos to the Celtics for not being afraid of them; they're damn scary.