'The Wall' at Clippers home games proving costly to free-throw shooters

In the first game at the Intuit Dome, "The Wall" distracted Phoenix Suns' Kevin Durant, a career 88% free-throw shooter, into missing two late free throws. That's become a regular practice for the uninterrupted 51-row section, where only Clippers fans can sit. The first 13 rows are reserved for die-hard fans, who the Clips hope will stand and cheer for the entire game.

"The Wall" has a subsection known as "The Swell," which organizes coordinated chants and distractions. Volunteer leaders will do anything to throw off the other players at the line, like when a Clippers fan donned a horse mask to rattle equine enthusiast Nikola Jokic this week.

It sounds silly, but it's been effective. Through 14 home games, players facing the Clippers shot 71.7% on free throws. When Los Angeles is on the road, their opponents shoot 80.1%. Last year, those opponents shot 77.4% on free throws in games at the Crypto.com Arena and 77.7% when the Clippers played on the road.

Overall, teams facing the Clippers make 75.3% of their free throws, the third-worst mark in the NBA.

That's a significant component in the Clippers' seventh-ranked defense this season. They're giving up 20.7 free throw attempts per game at home, and the difference between opponents shooting 71.7% and 80.1% is 1.8 points per game, which is the same as the Clippers' point differential on the season.

"The Wall" was intended to capture the feel of a college crowd, and it feels like the heir to Arizona State's "Curtain of Distraction," where a temporary curtain revealed costumed characters, celebrity cameos and mascot fencing duels, among other things, to throw off shooters.

That worked in Tempe, and it's working on the pro level in Los Angeles. In a tightly packed Western Conference, every free throw counts.