After a three-game win and cover streak ended last weekend against Golden State, the Nets have fallen upon hard times. The team had lost and failed to cover three in a row before beating the favored Wizards in Washington on Friday. To make matters tougher, burgeoning superstar Caris LeVert was lost for an undisclosed amount of time with a dislocated foot.

Enter the Clippers, a team brimming with confidence riding a 5-1 straight up, 4-2 against-the-spread wave into the Barclays Center. That stretch includes wins over the Bucks, Warriors and Spurs. The road has not been a kind place for the Clippers — they are 2-4 against the number away from Staples Center — but if there is a spot for this team to shake its road demons, it is this one.

The Nets’ offensive rating on the season is a very respectable 1.058 points per possession, good for 10th in the NBA. Nevertheless, in the first game without LeVert that rating plummeted to 0.965 points per possession. The Clippers have made their living this young season playing defense, ranking 10th in efficiency allowing 1.041 points per possession. With Los Angeles catching the Nets on the back end of a back-to-back and still trying to recover from the loss of LeVert, the Clippers look like the right side on Saturday.

The play: Clippers, -6 points.