Tyson Chandler and David West are expected to be in the lineup for the Hornets Thursday night when New Orleans plays at San Antonio in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinals series.

Chandler injured his foot early in the fourth quarter while West played much of the game with a tweaked back in New Orleans’ 101-79 Tuesday night win over the Spurs that gave the Hornets a 3-2 lead in the series.

“Both feel better,” New Orleans head coach Byron Scott said Wednesday following practice. “They’ll get more treatment today and tomorrow. I think they’ll both be ready to play in Game 6. I don’t know if they’ll be 100 percent, but I do know they’ll be ready to play in the game.”

Photo by Ann Heisenfelt / The Associated Press

Hornets center Tyson Chandler grimaces after being injured against the Spurs in the second half of Game 5 Tuesday night. Chandler left the game and did not return. He's expected to play Thursday night in Game 6.

The Hornets are going to need every body they have. After a physical Game 5, Game 6 should be no less grueling.

A quick look at how many shots New Orleans took at the free throw line – 33 – will show just how tough Game 5 was on the Hornets.

But while neither West nor Chandler practiced Wednesday – West took some shots and free throws and Chandler practiced only foul shots – both shouldn’t have a hard time getting ready for San Antonio.

“Both understand the importance of this game, having a chance to close out a great team like this,” Scott said.

West wasn’t available to speak with reporters Wednesday.

Chandler said his injury wasn’t as bad as initially thought.

“When I was sitting on the bench for awhile, it allowed the injury to calm down,” Chandler said. “It allowed me to put more pressure on it, and with a little more time, I could have gone back in the game.”

He wasn’t needed, even though his injury happened at the 8:47 mark of the fourth quarter. New Orleans had a 78-65 lead at that point.

Losing Chandler would be a blow to the Hornets. In the playoffs, he’s averaging more than 10 rebounds a game, including 39 on the offensive glass. And against San Antonio, though he’s averaging a rebound fewer, he’s still a vacuum on the offensive boards, gathering 16.

That’s not to mention the job he has done on Spurs All-Star Tim Duncan. Though Scott has changed up the defense a good bit in the series, the bulk of the task of defending Duncan has fallen to Chandler.

As such, Duncan is averaging 5 points fewer in this series than he did in the regular season, and his shooting percentage is down six percent.

“He’s been big,” Scott said. “In the games we’ve won, he’s done an unbelievable job against him on an individual standpoint. From a team standpoint, he’s done a real good job of understanding what we have to do.

“You can’t really tell Tyson’s value by looking at the boxscore and his rebounding and scoring. He does a lot of little things as well.”

Scott said if it comes down Chandler not being able to play, he’ll activate Chris “Birdman” Andersen.

Then there’s West, who is averaging 22.2 points per game this series. He has set career playoff highs twice in this series, including 38 points Tuesday night, one shy of tying a franchise playoff record.

Overall in the playoffs, West is averaging 22.4 points per game, good for 11th best in the NBA this postseason. In other words, the Hornets need West in their attempt to steal a playoff game at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

Scott isn’t worried. “I expect both those guys to play,” he said.