It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Coming into a first-round playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Clippers were the overwhelming favorites to advance. After two games, however, the tables have turned. It’s the Mavericks who stole home court advantage from the Clippers and are heading back to Dallas with a 2-0 series lead. 

In those two games, the Mavericks played some of their best basketball of the season. Starting the game off strong and playing with poise throughout, Dallas was able to fend off any challenge or run Los Angeles threw at them. The Mavericks are in the driver’s seat now as the Clippers, who wanted this match-up, are facing the prospect of another embarrassing playoff exit. 

“These guys know what it's about,” Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle said. “And look, frankly, we didn't have to get into a lot of cliché type stuff. Our guys are hungry to compete. They're hungry to play for each other. We've done that well for the first two games.” 

Something else the Mavericks have done well so far is shoot the ball. Dallas lit up the Clippers with a barrage of deep shots in Game 1. That hot shooting carried over to Game 2, when they made 18 three-pointers. They’ve combined to make 35 shots from behind the arc in the series so far. The Clippers have only hit 24. 

Overall, Dallas is shooting 54.4% from the floor and 50% from deep. Los Angeles, meanwhile, is connecting on a respectable amount of their shots. They’re seeing 48.8% percent of their overall shots find nylon, including 32.9% from downtown—the Mavericks held the Clippers to 27.8% on three-pointers during the regular season. L.A. posted the best three-point shooting percentage in the league during the regular season, 41.1%, but right now they can’t match what Dallas is doing.

“They're making shots,” Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard said. “They're playing great basketball. You got to give them credit. I mean, some of those wide open looks is on our part, for sure. But they're making shots. They're stepping into it with confidence.”

The two players giving L.A. the most fits are Luka Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr. Doncic is naturally going to be a problem for opponents. He’s one of the best players in the league, and he’s only 22 years old. He’s averaging 35 points, 8.5 rebounds, nine assists and 1.5 blocks. 

Hardaway is playing like a man possessed. During the last few weeks of the regular season, he caught fire and it carried over into the postseason. In Game 2, he scored 28 points, going 9-14 from the floor. He also made six of his eight three-point attempts. For the series, he’s chipped in 49 total points and is shooting 63% overall and 64.7% from long range. 

“When you're in that zone and you're in that mindset and you're playing against a team like that, those shots are very big and very key throughout the game,” Hardaway said. “And just being able to get two on the road, it's great. But we know we've still got more work to be done.”

The confidence and determination are pervasive. To a person, the players and Carlisle have spoken about the need to play with an edge and a degree of intensity throughout the game. Through two games, they’ve done just that. But it’s still just two games. The Mavericks wouldn’t let themselves celebrate after Tuesday’s win. This was a business trip for them. 

“We expect that from ourselves,” Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis said. “I even thought we celebrated a bit too much. We just won the second game. We're not nowhere yet. That's a good step where we want to go.”

Only they know where they’re going. Not even the most die-hard and optimistic fans could have predicted that the Mavericks would hold a two-game series lead over the Clippers. Los Angeles certainly didn’t expect it. After all, they intentionally lost the final two games of the regular season against the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder—two of the worst teams in the league—to wind up in a series with the Mavericks. 

“I didn't know they were doing that,” Doncic said. “Somebody told me that in the first game. But if you want to win the championship, at the end of the day you've got to win against everybody. So, I don't think that makes a big statement. But you just go out there and play.” 

Now, the Mavericks have the upper hand and are returning to Dallas and an arena packed with 15,000 rabid fans. The Clippers got the playoff match-up they wanted, but so far the Mavericks have been much more than they bargained for. You wouldn’t know it listening to their players, though.

“It's a competition,” Clippers forward Paul George said. “We got to rise to the occasion. The fact of the matter is if we don't, we're done for. But it's no level of concern.”

The Clippers have casually lost five consecutive playoff games dating back to last season, when they lost three in a row to the Denver Nuggets after taking a 3-1 series lead. Since 2003, top-four seeds haven’t fared well when going down 0-2 to start a series. They’re 2-5 overall.