In a hard-fought and tightly contested matchup of two teams that hope to be making a playoff push at this time next season, the visiting Sacramento Kings rode De'Aaron Fox's fantastic finish to a 125-121 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Fox scored 10 of his team's final 15 points in the final and decisive 2:27 of the game, including a dazzling, driving layup with 26.2 seconds to go that gave the Kings a 121-117 lead. Fox finished with 23 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and he buried all four of his free-throw attempts in clutch situations.

Buddy Hield finished with 17 points, going just 4 of 13 from the floor, but he was clutch late with a 3-pointer from the wing with 1:07 to go to retake the lead for the Kings, 119-116. He later hit both free-throw attempts for the Kings' final points to extend to a four-point margin.

The Mavs got another strong game from rookie sensation Luka Doncic, who led Dallas with 28 points and his seventh triple-double of the season. He wound up with 12 assists and 12 boards. His night could have been spectacular if not for missing all nine of his 3-point attempts.

Dwight Powell scored 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting, many coming at the rim off Doncic dishes.

Kings forward Harrison Barnes made his return to Dallas since being traded to Sacramento at the trade deadline. He had 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Willie Cauley-Stein had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic each contributed 14 points.

Dallas took a 110-102 lead with 4:47 to go after there had been eight ties and 12 lead changes through three quarters. But just two minutes later, Fox's free throws tied the game at 112-112.

--Field Level Media