In April, NBA teams never desire to be rebuilding for the next year and hoping for improved odds in the draft lottery.

Yet, the Detroit Pistons and the hosting Brooklyn Nets find themselves in that scenario as they gear up for Saturday night’s showdown.

Having won four of their last six games, the Nets secured their latest victory, 115-111, at home against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

Despite the triumph, Brooklyn (30-47) was officially ousted from playoff contention following Atlanta’s win over Detroit on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, interim Nets coach Kevin Ollie sees significance in the remaining five games of the season.

“We are trying to build championship character, and we are trying to build competitive character,” Ollie said. “That’s just taking care of one another and just competing no matter what the outcome is. I don’t worry about the outcome. I worry about figuring it out. That’s what a competitor does.”

“No matter if you are in it or you are out of it, it doesn’t matter because you get another opportunity to put on a Brooklyn jersey. That’s all that matters. That’s how we have to play.”

Recently, Cam Thomas has been the driving force for the Nets, showcasing an exceptional scoring spree. In his last nine appearances, Thomas has averaged an impressive 26.8 points per game.

“Whatever games we got, we are just going to go out and try to win,” Thomas said. “We just want to play as hard as we can and keep creating that culture.”

On the other hand, Detroit (13-64) stands as the cellar-dweller in the league, having long been ruled out of playoff contention.

Following a 108-90 defeat against Memphis on Friday, the Pistons face a back-to-back scenario when they take on the Nets.

With three consecutive losses and 11 defeats in the last 12 games, Detroit is embarking on a grueling stretch, playing six out of seven games on the road to cap off the season.

“I don’t care where you are in the season, you can always bring competition,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said. “Collectively, we didn’t have that (Friday).”

Detroit has been without their top scorer, Cade Cunningham, for the past two games due to knee maintenance, creating uncertainty regarding his availability against Brooklyn.

Cunningham had recorded over 30 points in the three games before his absence.

In games where Cunningham has been sidelined this season, Jaden Ivey has often thrived as the primary playmaker and scoring option, a trend that continued in the Memphis matchup.

Ivey impressively tallied 31 points in just 32 minutes of play for Detroit.

“Every single one of us in this locker room has go look at ourselves in the mirror and see what we can do better,” Ivey said.

Brooklyn leads the season series against Detroit with a 2-1 record. The Nets claimed victory in back-to-back encounters against Detroit on Dec. 23 (126-115) and Dec. 26 (118-112) before the Pistons secured a 118-112 home win on March 7.