Is LA Clippers' Intuit Dome wall making teams miss their free throws? Examining opposition performance before NBA playoffs

For years, LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer raved about his plans for a new arena. He wanted to get out of Crypto.com Arena and give Clippers fans their own shrine to reaffirm their identity.

The Intuit Dome opened its doors this season, and its state-of-the-art facilities put it right at the top of the list of the most modern arenas in the NBA. However, it's not just because of all the bathrooms Ballmer so famously raved about. It also has an interesting design tweak.

As reported by Sportico, the Clippers drew inspiration from German soccer team Borussia Dortmund to build 'a wall' to disrupt the opposing team when they get to the free-throw line.

The Wall is a steep section with 51 rows of seats behind the basket that's closer to the visitor's bench. Only proven diehard Clippers fans are allowed to sit there, and they're expected to stand throughout the entire game.

Per Sportico's report, visiting teams made just 73.4% of their free throws when facing the wall as opposed to 76.1% on the other end. That apparent edge also translated to the three-point line, as opposing teams shot the second-worst 33.5% from three at Intuit Dome, and 32.9% when facing The Wall.

How has the Clippers' 'Wall' affected the Denver Nuggets?

So, now that we know the effect 'The Wall' has on opposing teams, it's time to wonder how it might affect the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

First, we have to establish some context. The Nuggets attempted 1,909 free throws and sank 1,470 in the regular season, which is good for a 77% free-throw shooting percentage.

Their road/home splits were nearly identical. In fact, they were slightly better away from home (77.1%) than in Colorado (76.9%). They shot 78.7% from the line in wins, and 73.8% in losses.

They split the regular-season series vs. the Clippers, but they shot 72.8% from the line against them, almost five percentage points below their average. Now, if we dig even deeper, things get more interesting.

The Nuggets hosted the Clippers three times this season, and they averaged 24.3 free-throw attempts and shot 78.1% from the line in those games. That number sank all the way to 19 attempts and 52.6% in their lone game at Intuit Dome.

Granted, it's a small sample size, but given all the data, it seems like the Clippers might be onto something and will get a bit of an edge in that regard in this series.