Clippers have real home-court advantage in playoffs for first time ever

"The Wall" was equally effective in the regular season, with the Clippers ranking second in opponent free-throw percentage and first when players had to make foul shots facing the intimidating section. 

The Clippers also handed out horse hats to their fans as a distraction tactic for Nikola Jokic, whose affinity for the animal is well known. 

The distraction didn't exactly pay dividends, with the Serb recording a triple-double on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting. However, his teammates Braun, Zeke Nnaji and DeAndre Jordan combined for 2-of-7 on foul shots and were seemingly bothered by the fans behind "The Wall."

After their win, Clippers co-stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden thanked the fans for creating a hostile environment for the Nuggets.

"It was great tonight," Leonard said. "Everybody came out. The Wall was great, cheering all night, and let's see what we got on Saturday."

"It was cracking, it was loud," Harden said. "It's just how we expected it to be... We jumped out to a big lead, they got behind us, and we just rode that wave."

Elsewhere, NBA journeyman Patrick Beverley, who has played for seven different teams in his career, called the Intuit Dome "the best basketball arena by far" after attending Thursday's win. 

Los Angeles will now try to take a 3-1 series lead on Saturday before the series shifts back to Denver.