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There’s a theme that runs through American pop culture from “The Great Gatsby” to the castaways on “Lost”: a desire to escape from the past. That brings us to the Clippers and Game 7 tonight against the Phoenix Suns.

The players and coaches insist they have nothing to do with what came before them.

“History has nothing to do with us,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We’re making our own history.”

Their knowledge of the past is kept to a minimum. As Chris Kaman said before the Denver series: “I know we came from Buffalo to San Diego to here, and I know we [stunk] all the way.”

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Of course, this group doesn’t bear responsibility for all 1,856 defeats the franchise has suffered since its inception in 1970. But without those decades of futility, the concept of the Clippers advancing to the Western Conference finals by winning one more game wouldn’t be so incredible. If Phoenix wins, big deal. The Suns played in the conference finals last year. A Clippers victory would be unprecedented. Historic.

But it’s their recent history, very much their responsibility, that comes into play tonight. Specifically, Game 5 of the series. That’s the one they led by three points with 3.6 seconds left in overtime, before Raja Bell made a three-point basket and the revived Suns won in double overtime.

In a series with evenly matched teams, as this one has proved to be, it’s almost impossible to give away a game and recover. A few examples of pivotal games that were “stolen” in series that went the full seven:

* Robert Horry’s three-pointer against the Detroit Pistons that won Game 5 of the NBA Finals for the San Antonio Spurs last year.

* Horry’s miracle shot in Game 4 of the Lakers’ Western Conference finals with the Sacramento Kings in 2002.

* Reggie Miller’s eight-point flurry in nine seconds to turn a six-point New York Knicks lead in the last 18.7 seconds of Game 1 into a two-point Indiana Pacers victory in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals.

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* Larry Bird’s stealing Isiah Thomas’ inbounds pass and finding Boston Celtics teammate Dennis Johnson for the winning layup against the Pistons in the last five seconds of Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference finals.

* Gerald Henderson’s swiping James Worthy’s inbounds pass with 18 seconds left and converting a layup that turned a two-point Lakers lead into overtime and a Celtics victory in Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Finals.

It’s not that those games inflicted a damaging emotional blow. In fact, the loser of each of those heartbreakers came back to win the next game, as the Clippers did in Game 6. But none of the losers in the previous examples won the series, not even by stretching it to seven games. At this level the opposition is just too good to give away a game without suffering consequences. (The Suns blew Game 4 of their opening-round series with the Lakers twice, but they nullified that by stealing Game 6. No net giveaway.)

If the Clippers lose this series, Game 5 probably will be the one they’ll remember. That’s partly because Game 7s, for all the hype, often go out with a thud. Did you see Cleveland’s 23-point second half Sunday? And do we need to rehash what happened to the Lakers here a couple of weeks ago?

Now for a bit of history that favors the Clippers. Sam Cassell, one of about four dozen active NBA players to win a Game 7 on the road, did it in 1995 with the Houston Rockets in the same building where tonight’s game will be played.

“In a red jersey too,” Cassell said.

It’s the lack of history for everyone else that makes predicting tonight’s outcome so difficult. We know the Clippers are capable of playing well at US Airways Center. They’ve done it in the first three games there this series. We just don’t know how the playoff newcomers will respond to the pressure of Game 7, the NBA’s version of truth serum.

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Can Quinton Ross continue his 53% playoff shooting? Can Kaman avoid fouls and turnovers? Will we see the seven-for-eight Corey Maggette of Game 6, or the three-for-11 version of Game 5?

“I believe it’s all about your confidence in yourself and your preparation,” Dunleavy said. “If you have confidence in yourself, and you have preparation, I don’t care how old you are, what you’ve been through or what you haven’t done. If you practice well, that should give you confidence that you can do it.”

Cassell is doing his best to spread the wisdom, even reminding Cuttino Mobley to “take care of your body” as Mobley left the practice court Saturday. But he knows he can’t hold anyone’s hand tonight. Then again, he doesn’t think it’s necessary.

“We wouldn’t have got this far if we didn’t believe in ourselves,” Cassell said.

That’s the intrigue of tonight. Belief in themselves, or belief in the precedent-setting power of history?

Will the Clippers successfully overcome the present, or will they be borne back ceaselessly by the past?

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande, go to latimes.com/adandeblog.

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