Many teams in the NBA are “banged up” at this time of the year. Some teams have legit injuries while others have “injuries” to allow them rest days for players as we close out the season. In the case of the San Antonio Spurs, it is the former as they are without Victor Wembanyama for the remainder of the season along with De’Aaron Fox.
I wouldn’t say this game is a must-win, but given the stretch of games the Pistons have to close out the season, they are not going to have a ton of games left in which they are favored or at least heavily favored, so a win tonight is very important.