Suns give props to Intuit Dome’s ‘The Wall’ that helped scrappy Clippers

Remember a decade back when then-head coach Stan Van Gundy emplored his Detroit Pistons to “form a (expletive) wall?”

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer took it quite literally when planning his $2 billion Intuit Dome.

“The Wall” is a vertically constructed fan section filled with attendees who are hand-picked by the team. Those lucky fans are required to stand and make noise the entire game.

"The Wall" at the Intuit Dome is menacing on the free throw line 😳

PHX-LAC 4Q on ESPN pic.twitter.com/Hbzt7cME3Q

— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2024

Even through the TV screen, it appeared to have worked in the Intuit Dome’s debut, a 116-113 Phoenix Suns overtime win that took a little mettle from the visiting team to get past a stingy defensive squad and its fans excited for a non-shared new home arena.

Phoenix went 8 of 14 from the free-throw line facing “The Wall” in the fourth quarter, and star Kevin Durant most notably had a trip of two misses.

“I missed a free throw, man. I was pissed,” Suns guard Devin Booker said afterward. “Think K missed two down there, too, so that (expletive) might work.”

‘The Wall’ didn’t work against Suns in 1st OT at Intuit Dome

The Suns recovered in overtime, nailing all 10 of their free throws to pull out the win. So perhaps they could joke a little bit afterward after those misses.

“You spend $2 billion, put a wall up,” Booker said. “They didn’t completely do their job.”

Durant, a Texas Longhorn who played a single season in college, said “The Wall” reminded him of the Oklahoma State Cowboys’ arena.

“It was crazy. I was just staring at it the whole time,” Durant admitted. “You’re not used to that. I think I experienced that — Oklahoma State has somewhat of an arena like that. Obviously not that big, but the seats went straight up and (I) always thought that was cool.

“The noise sounds a little different from that vantage point. It’s going to be a tough road environment for whoever comes in here.”

Durant shook off any distracted moments at the foul stripe and otherwise. He struggled throughout the game with seven turnovers but led Phoenix with 25 points.

Most importantly, Durant nailed a 15-foot fadeaway over a pair of Clippers with 21 seconds left that tied the game at 103 apiece to force overtime.

“They were this close to getting a stop and then I raised up and shot that and made it,” Durant said. “Then it was silent in there. That’s one of the best feelings, especially late in a game.”

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