Mavericks 117, Kings 108: Shawn Marion had 25 points and 12 rebounds to help visiting Dallas continue its domination of Sacramento and keep its fading playoff hopes alive.

Brandan Wright and Darren Collison came off the bench to score 20 and 18 points, respectively, for the Mavericks, who remain three games behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Lakers for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points for Dallas, which overcame a sluggish start to score 74 points in the middle two periods while beating the Kings for the fifth straight time and 15th in the last 16 meetings.

Isaiah Thomas scored 29 points and Tyreke Evans added 26 for Sacramento, which led by 11 points early in the second quarter before falling to 0-3 on its current five-game homestand.

Dallas carried an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter but the Kings opened with a quick 9-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 94-90. Collison and O.J. Mayo responded by scoring all the points in a 9-0 run as the Mavericks restored the lead to double digits.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Mavericks swingman Vince Carter notched his 4,000th career assist and became the 15th player in league history with 22,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. ... Kings C DeMarcus Cousins was not in the starting lineup due to a verbal spat with head coach Keith Smart on the bench in Wednesday's game. He finished with six points in nine minutes. ... Mavericks F Elton Brand (calf) sat out his second straight game.