INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Steve Ballmer is about to realize his long-held dream of the Los Angeles Clippers hosting playoff games in their own arena.

Eleven years after buying the once laughingstock franchise, the 69-year-old billionaire is getting the last laugh. Led by a healthy Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers resume their first-round series in Game 3 tonight at the new Intuit Dome against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

“I think it’s the best basketball you can watch,” Jokic said of the closely contested series that’s tied 1-1.

The arena will host next year’s All-Star weekend and be the basketball venue for the 2028 Olympics.

While the Clippers were opening the playoffs in Denver, their fans watched on a giant video board at the plaza outside Intuit Dome.

Fans attending tonight will find a towel and noisemaker at their seats and those who arrive 30 minutes early will get a Leonard T-shirt.

“I expect it to be rockin’ in there,” Clippers All-Star James Harden said.

So does Nuggets interim coach David Adelman.

“They have the crowd at the end towards our bench. It’s like a high school crowd, which is actually really cool,” he said, referring to The Wall, a 58-row section of Clippers superfans. “That building, it’s very loud whether the crowd is cheering or not, so we have to be prepared for that.”

Brunson is clutch

Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks won the NBA’s clutch player of the year award Wednesday.

Brunson got 70 of the 100 first-place votes. Denver’s Nikola Jokic was second and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards was third. Brunson averaged 5.6 points on 51.5% shooting in clutch time this season, with the Knicks going 17-11 in the games he played that met the criteria for the “clutch” designation.

Brunson was truly at his best in the final 30 seconds of those clutch games. He shot 11 for 17 in those moments, including 4 for 8 from 3-point range.

Jimmer done

Jimmer Fredette, the 2011 Associated Press men’s college basketball player of the year who went on to become an NBA lottery pick and then played for the U.S. in 3×3 at last year’s Paris Olympics, has announced his retirement.

The 36-year-old Fredette made the announcement on Wednesday. He was the No. 10 pick by Milwaukee in that 2011 draft, spent parts of six seasons in the NBA with Sacramento, New Orleans, Chicago, Phoenix and New York.

He also played professionally in China and Greece.

Wednesday’s games:

CAVALIERS 121, HEAT 112: Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland held on for a victory over Miami for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series. The top-seeded Cavaliers set an NBA playoff record with 11 3-pointers in the second quarter and had 22 for the game. However, Cleveland had to hold off a second-half charge by Miami. Tyler Herro scored 33 points for Miami.

CELTICS 109, MAGIC 100: Jaylen Brown had 36 points and 10 rebounds, Kristaps Porzingis returned to the game after getting a bloody gash to the forehead and finished with 20 points, and Boston beat Orlando in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. Boston took a 2-0 series lead while playing without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who has a bone bruise in his right wrist and missed a playoff game for the first time in his career. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 32 points.