The Toronto Raptors are on pace for a franchise-best win total and, at worst, will finish with the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. So it's a little weird that fatalism and the looming specter of past collapses still cloud so much of what would otherwise be a feel-good story.
But that's how it is for the Raps, who lost their third game in four tries, this one a 119-100 thumping at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Looking unsteady at a dangerous time, last year's ghosts feel more real than ever for the Raptors.