The Cavs took the court to the Monstars theme song, then lost ... just like the Monstars

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been messing around with the rest of the Eastern Conference. They were playing really good basketball, and trolling the rest of the league while they were at it. The latest sign? They took the court for Game 3 against the Boston Celtics with the Monstars theme song playing over the arena’s loudspeakers:

Why would they do this? Is it just a good pregame song to hype up an arena before a team’s first home game of a series?

Well, no, it’s a little more than that. Here’s Isaiah Thomas after the Cavs blew out the Celtics in Game 1:

Cleveland Browns first-round pick Myles Garrett recognized the song immediately, and was one of the first to connect the dots between the tune and Thomas’ comments:

But there’s a problem here, as some fans were quick to point out. It is a bit odd that the Cavs are embracing this whole Monstars thing, because, after all, the Monstars eventually lose in “Space Jam.”

And, sure enough…

The Cavs coughed up a huge second-half deficit — again, just like the Monstars, who were up 66-18 at halftime but blew the lead to the Toon Squad — and fell to the Celtics in a Game 3 stunner. Those same fans, of course, jumped all over the irony of the Cavs’ pettiness.

But the audacity of the Cavs and their game operations department is still wonderful to see. This isn’t the first time the DJ at Quicken Loans Arena has had some fun with his pregame music choices. The Cavs have edited Drake songs to mute any references to the Golden State Warriors, their likely opponents in the NBA Finals. Hopefully the Monstars karma doesn’t deter Cleveland in the future.

And if you need a refresher on the Monstars anthem — “Hit ’em High” by Busta Rhymes and others — from the 1996 movie “Space Jam,” here you go: