HOUSTON, April 14 (Ticker) -- The Memphis Grizzlies continue to see signs that they have a bright future.

Pau Gasol had 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and fellow rookie Shane Battier scored 18 points as the Grizzlies posted a 98-95 victory over the shorthanded Houston Rockets.

The Grizzlies (23-57) will finish at least 30 games under .500 for the seventh consecutive season, but the play of their rookie duo gives reason to believe that streak will end soon. Gasol is considered the favorite for Rookie of the Year and Battier may be the runner-up.

NBA TV highlights from Grizzlies-Rockets: 56k Pau Gasol has the potential to take the Grizzlies to new heights. Bill Baptist NBAE/Getty Images

On Sunday, they combined to make 12-of-17 shots and led Memphis to its third win in four games.

Memphis led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter and had an 89-82 lead with 6:16 remaining. But Houston scored eight of the next 10 points and pulled within 89-88 on a jumper by rookie Tierre Brown with 4:17 left.

The Grizzlies had a 95-90 edge with 85 seconds to go, but Houston rookie Eddie Griffin nailed a 3-pointer with 69 seconds left. Gasol made a bad pass on the next possession and Brown took it for a breakaway layup to forge a 95-95 tie with 25 seconds to go.

But Memphis rookie Will Solomon was fouled by rookie Oscar Torres on a 3-point attempt 20 seconds later. He missed the first free throw before making the final two to seal the win.

"I saw there was 4.2 seconds left, I wanted to make all three but I missed one," Solomon said. "I love being in there at crunch time. The last three or four games we've been starting to play good together."

Jason Williams collected 16 points and 11 assists and Rodney Buford scored 14 points for the Grizzlies, who shot 52 percent (36-of-69) to overcome 23 turnovers.

Kevin Willis scored a season-high 18 points and rookie Terence Morris added 13 and 10 rebounds for Houston, which dressed only eight players.

Steve Francis sat out with a strained right shoulder and Cuttino Mobley had the flu, forcing the Rockets to go without their starting backcourt.

"It's been a tough season," Rockets guard Moochie Norris said. "We've had a lot of guys go down early. We've had so many lineup changes it was hard for us to jell."

Kenny Thomas had 14 points and eight rebounds and Brown finished with 12 points for Houston, which finished its home schedule with an 18-23 record, its worst since going just 9-32 at home during the 1982-83 season.

"Nobody wants adversity in their life or their job, but I'm not discouraged," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "I'm really proud of our guys, we've learned not to take winning for granted."