The Los Angeles Clippers have their backs against the wall but head coach Tyronn Lue is confident the championship-chasing franchise will show their true colours in Game 3 of the Western Conference first round.

Expectations are high with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George leading the way in Los Angeles, however the Clippers trail the Dallas Mavericks 2-0 heading into Friday's showdown in the NBA playoffs after back-to-back defeats on home court.

The fourth-seeded Clippers are looking to banish the demons of last season, which saw the team sensationally surrender a 3-1 series lead in a 4-3 defeat to the Denver Nuggets in the Conference semi-finals under former coach Doc Rivers.

"I think when you're down 2-0 and you're coming into another team's arena, it shows what you're made of," Lue said on Thursday.

"Our toughness all year, just trust, sticking together, this is going to show us tomorrow who we are and what we are made of. So I'm excited to see [it]."

Lue added: "Urgency is the right word. Pressure or panic, I don't believe in that. ... [The Clippers have to] understand the urgency and understand what we are trying to do and basically everybody get on the same page.

"That's the biggest thing for me. But like I said, we are urgent and we are ready to go. We cleaned up some things we need to clean up."

The Clippers have lost five consecutive playoffs games since last winning in the postseason – Game 4 against the Nuggets in 2019-20.

"You can't hit back if you don't swing ... We've got to bring physicality to the game," Lue, who won the championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, said. "They've definitely been the more physical team, and I don't know why that is because we talk about that. So in order to throw a punch, you've got to swing."

"We have got to be more physical, we've got to swing and we have to come out punching and we can't keep getting behind the 8-ball in the first quarter. We have to be better defensively to start the game. We are well aware of that, and now we have to go out and execute it."