The last thing the New Orleans Hornets wanted was to give the defending champion San Antonio Spurs the whole weekend off before Game 7.

"You're playing with fire," New Orleans coach Byron Scott said before the Spurs beat the Hornets, 99-80, Thursday night.

Too late now. It's back to New Orleans for a winner-take-all matchup Monday night.

While the aging Spurs can certainly use the time off, the break might also help the banged-up Hornets.

New Orleans forward David West had his back injury re-aggravated when the Spurs' Robert Horry set a hard, blindside screen early in the fourth quarter.

West collapsed to the floor, face down, grabbing his back with his left arm. He hobbled off the court, helped along by people on either side, and did not return. Horry was called for an offensive foul.

Game 6 was essentially out of reach for the Hornets at that point. But whether West can recuperate by Monday may be a big factor in deciding which team advances to the Western Conference final.

West was the key player in the Hornets' Game 5 win that put them up, 3-2.

"Took a pretty good shot in the back," Scott said. "Maybe it's a good thing that Game 7 is on Monday. It gives him a chance to get some rest -- get that back together. Same thing with Tyson [Chandler] and his foot."

Chandler has a bruised left foot from Game 5, but scored 14 points on 7 of 8 shooting in Game 6. He also had six rebounds and blocked two shots. West said earlier this week that he wasn't sure what caused the pain and attributed it possibly to back spasms.

"D West is a fighter. He's going to get back from this," Hornets point guard Chris Paul said.

The Spurs and Hornets took yesterday off and planned to get back in the gym today.

Phoenix will interview Houston Rockets assistant Elston Turner as a replacement for former head coach Mike D'Antoni. The interview will be next week. Turner, 48, has been an assistant to coach Rick Adelman for 11 years with Portland, Sacramento and Houston. Turner joins Terry Porter and Mark Jackson as candidates. Porter is a Detroit Pistons assistant and former head coach at Milwaukee. Jackson is an ESPN/ABC analyst and former player.