National Basketball Association

Marines scrimmage with Pelicans at practice

Published Nov. 6, 2014 11:58 p.m. ET

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The Pelicans' Thursday practice was certainly not what one would expect a little more than 48 hours out from taking on the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.

Twenty special guests were the center of attention: observing practice, then interacting with players and coaches, even scrimmaging with the players. The guests were 20 local Marines, invited for the day to thank them for their service in honor of the program called "Hoops for Troops."

The Marines had lunch with the team after practice.

Head coach Monty Williams has traditionally been a strong supporter of the armed services, hosting service members and their families at various games throughout previous seasons. Many of Williams' players are following his example.  

Just last week, Omer Asik, Patrick Young and Darius Miller jumped into the fray of with a program called Pros vs. Joes, squaring off against deployed military members from Tampa, Fla. in a video game faceoff on "Call of Duty".

The Marines' visit didn't take away from preparations for the Spurs, though. If anything, it inspired players to dig deeper.

"We know we can't take a single minute off," Ryan Anderson said. "We can't relax for a second. We need to play for 48 minutes."

Players such as Tyreke Evans stayed after practice, refining shooting techniques and polishing the little skills before Saturday's test.

"We're certainly not as deep as San Antonio," Williams acknowledged. "But we can be effective because our first five plays more minutes than their first five."

Saturday's game tips off at 7:30 p.m. CST from San Antonio.

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