HOUSTON -- The knee-jerk reaction would be to celebrate the Grizzlies' heralded defense on Friday night, but Memphis' spirited rally was birthed more from offensive execution than defensive might.

Zach Randolph posted a double-double off the bench and the Grizzlies erased a 16-point deficit with a balanced attack in rallying past the Houston Rockets 110-105 at Toyota Center.

Randolph finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds and carried the Grizzlies offensively during a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter. The Rockets (31-11) dropped consecutive games for the first time this season largely because of poor perimeter shooting. The Rockets missed 21 of 24 3-pointers in the second half.

Case in point: Trailing by four points with just under a minute left to play, Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson clanged open looks from behind the arc. Memphis followed with a contested 3 from reserve guard Troy Daniels to extend the lead to 110-103 and improve to 2-0 against Houston this season.

"We didn't make shots," Rockets guard James Harden said repeatedly. "Trevor had a really good look, Ryan had a really good look. Simple."

Mike Conley produced 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Grizzlies (25-17), who also received 14 points, six rebounds and six assists from Marc Gasol and a season-high 22 points (on 9-of-10 shooting) from Tony Allen before he fouled out with 3:35 to play.

Daniels and James Ennis added 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench for Memphis, which has won three of its last four games.

"We never give in, that's for sure," Grizzlies coach David Fizdale said. "We keep fighting all the way 'till the end. Again, I'm going to keep fighting our team to be more consistent. To be in the conversation (of the best teams in the league) you have to be consistent and not just show up against really good teams."

Harden led the Rockets with 27 points and nine assists. Five other players scoring in double figures for Houston, including Ariza (12 points) and Anderson (10 points). But Houston missed 31 of 41 3-pointers.

The Grizzlies fashioned their comeback with offensive precision while taking advantage of the Rockets' sudden cold shooting. Houston shot 58.3 percent from the field in the first half but opened the third quarter missing 10 of 12 shots en route to a 6-of-24 quarter, including 2 of 14 from behind the arc on several open looks.

"Close out on multiple efforts," Gasol said of thwarting the Rockets' perimeter shooting. "Obviously, the impact that you make on the initial action is crucial because if not, you're chasing your tail around.

"You've got to be really disciplined and consistent and not give up."

Memphis scored with ease on backdoor cuts and a sudden barrage of 3-pointers.

The Rockets managed just one basket during an 11-3 Grizzlies run, and after seemingly finding their footing with back-to-back treys, the Rockets totaled just four points in the final three minutes of the third, all from the charity stripe. The Grizzlies countered with four 3-pointers plus a three-point play from Conley.

The Grizzlies closed the third quarter shooting 13 of 20 overall and 5 of 10 on 3s to slice the deficit to 85-83. That burst provided momentum, and Randolph carried it into the fourth as Memphis built a 92-85 lead.

Houston had no such problems in the second quarter, committing just one turnover while stretching a 31-25 lead entering the quarter to 62-46 on an Ariza free throw with 1:31 left in the half. Montrezl Harrell and Harden converted driving layups during the surge, with Harrell adding an emphatic dunk to that run.

The Rockets couldn't handle the prosperity. The bottom fell out when their shots stopped falling.

"I didn't think we were going to go all year without any kind of problems or any kind of tough spots," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said of the consecutive losses. "This is a tough spot."

NOTES: Rockets G Eric Gordon returned to action after missing two games with a sprained left big toe. The Rockets split decisions against the Hornets and Timberwolves without Gordon, who was second on the Rockets in scoring at 17.8 points per game and second in the NBA with 145 3-pointers. ... Grizzlies coach David Fizdale remains committed to a minute restriction for F Chandler Parsons, who scored a season-high 14 points over 18 minutes against the Thunder on Wednesday night. Parsons has been beset by knee woes and his minutes total at Oklahoma City was his most since his return from an 18-game hiatus that began in mid-November. Parsons was averaging 15.4 points in the first nine games after his return. ... Rockets G Patrick Beverley has turned a corner with the right wrist sprain that cost him two games recently. After averaging 14 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field in his first two games back from injury, Beverley averaged 4.7 points while shooting 19 percent (4 of 21) in the following three games.