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Tuomas Iisalo Praises Olivier-Maxence Prosper’s Energy Against Pacers
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- Tuomas Iisalo Praises Olivier-Maxence Prosper’s Energy Against Pacers
(Petre Thomas-Imagn Images)
Olivier-Maxence Prosper checked in with 7:03 left in the third quarter Wednesday night. About a minute later, his fast-break dunk off a Cam Spencer pass put the Memphis Grizzlies up 68-63 on the Indiana Pacers .
Indiana won 107-103 at FedExForum. All 7:03 of Prosper's minutes came in the third quarter, and he finished with 4 points on 2-of-3 shooting, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. His only miss was a 23-foot 3 with 50.4 seconds left in the quarter.
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Seven Minutes in the Third
Prosper replaced Zach Edey with Memphis ahead 66-60. Indiana took a 72-70 lead on an Obi Toppin 3 with 4:14 left in the quarter, and the teams were tied at 74 when Cedric Coward stole the ball from Jalen Slawson.
Slawson blocked Coward's layup at the other end. Prosper grabbed the miss and put it back in for a 76-74 lead with 2:53 left.
He also rebounded a Slawson miss before Spencer's 3 made it 79-76, and he found Jerami Grant for a 3 in transition that made it 82-76 with 1:25 left. Andrew Nembhard scored the last 4 points of the quarter, and Memphis led 82-80 going into the fourth.
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Isaiah Stewart had already left the game with a right knee injury. Quinten Post, who was questionable with an ankle injury, played 11 minutes, and Taylor Hendricks, Karim López, and Jahmai Mashack did not play.
The Grizzlies have had stretches in the middle of the first quarter and early in the second and fourth when they do not quite have it, in Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo's view. Indiana led 32-24 after a first quarter in which Memphis turned the ball over 8 times, and the Pacers won the fourth 27-21.
"Mostly energy," Iisalo said. "Mostly energy and defensive intensity. We never want to be the team that's out-competed. And we've had now in a couple of games those stretches in the middle of first and beginning of second and beginning of fourth where we don't quite have it, and we thought O-Max is an excellent example of that type of player who's always ready and always ready to bring energy."
"And I thought he sparked us a little bit there," Iisalo continued. "He had that fast break dunk that got the crowd into it and overall always plays with extremely high effort. So he really, I thought that served his purpose."
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From Two-Way Deal to Standard Contract
Prosper spent two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and played 92 games before signing a two-way contract with Memphis in September 2025.
The Grizzlies promoted the Montreal native to a standard two-year contract on March 4. The deal carried a club option for 2026-27, which Memphis picked up.
Prosper played college basketball at Clemson.
Wednesday was the second straight loss for the Grizzlies (6-2), who opened the season 6-0 . Ty Jerome and Coward scored 23 points apiece, and Edey had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Indiana turned 19 Memphis turnovers into 24 points. Nembhard finished with 22, Pascal Siakam scored 20, and Aaron Nesmith hit a corner 3 with 14.6 seconds left to make it 107-103.
The Oklahoma City Thunder come to Memphis on Friday, with tip-off at 7 p.m. CT.
