Suns players point out unfair advantage Clippers have this season

The Phoenix Suns began their 2024-25 campaign with a hard-fought 116-113 overtime win over the L.A. Clippers on Wednesday, to get off to the best possible start. With another game against the same opponent looming - not to mention the Dallas Mavericks and a pair against the Los Angeles Lakers - getting wins on the board early is crucial out West.

This was a game in which a lot went right for the Suns, with Tyus Jones looking as good as it was hoped he would and Bradley Beal being a much more consistent offensive threat. Then there were rookies Ryan Dunn and Odo Ighodaro, who also had their moments coming off the bench.

It looks like the Clippers have an unfair advantage at home though.

This was the first competitive fixture at their newly constructed Intuit Dome, and the place looks phenomenal. Among the best venues in the world surely to watch a game of basketball - although if you've seen the videos doing the rounds of concerts in the place as well - you'll know there doesn't seem to be a bad seat in the house. The steep house.

A big selling point for the Clippers in their new area is "The Wall", an uninterrupted 51 row block of seats that face one of the baskets. It makes shooting free-throws down that end if you're an opposing team extremely difficult, with the Suns having plenty to say against coming up against that kind of atmosphere, even if they did get the win.

This might have been the first game in the arena - and so the atmosphere was understandably hyped - but can you even imagine how much of an impact that could have in a playoff series or a Game 7 in Los Angeles? Granted center Jusuf Nurkic made four free-throws in overtime against the wall, but other guys are going to struggle against that kind of pressure.

It is a clever move by the Clippers to incorporate this into their new arena, although they would surely give it all up if it meant Kawhi Leonard was going to play more games. As things stand there's only so much fans can do in their seats, while watching James Harden's "I Got This" routine at 35-years-old try and get them wins.

It would also be amazing to see the Suns try and do something like this at Footprint Center - although with an Arizona twist - but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Last season this team shot 80.8 percent from the free-throw line, the sixth best mark in the entire league.

Despite returning essentially the same group - plus positive additions such as Jones - that number fell to 73.5 percent in Intuit Dome. If not for overtime, that number would have been even lower, which is an early indication that the Suns players are onto something here. This wall concept might actually work sometimes, and it will be interesting to see how this team fares next time out against it.