NBA PLAYOFFS : Golden State Eliminated by Seattle, 3-1

Ricky Pierce scored 27 points, and Gary Payton sank three free throws in the final 40 seconds as the Seattle SuperSonics edged the Golden State Warriros, 119-116, Thursday night at Seattle to win their first-round playoff series, 3-1.

The SuperSonics will play the winner of the Utah-Clipper series in the Western Conference semifinals.

Reserve Eddie Johnson added 26 points for Seattle, and Tim Hardaway had 27 points for Golden State.

Pierce made a layup to give the SuperSonics a 114-113 lead with 39.2 seconds left. After Hardaway missed a short jumper, Payton rebounded and was fouled by Sarunus Marciulionis with 25.9 seconds remaining. Payton made both free throws to give Seattle a 116-113 lead.

After Hardaway missed a three-point shot and Mario Elie missed a 20-footer, Shawn Kemp rebounded the ball for Seattle with 8.5 seconds left and Payton was fouled. Payton made the second of two free-throw attempts, but Marciulionis pulled the Warriors to within a point when he sank a three-pointer with 4.6 seconds left.

After Hardaway fouled Pierce, he made both free throws for a 119-116 lead lead with 2.8 seconds to play.

Hardaway missed a desperation three-point shot just in front of the half-court line as the game ended.

Cleveland 98, New Jersey 89--The Cavaliers ended a 16-year playoff drought with this victory at East Rutherford, N.J., beating the Nets 3-1 in the best-of-five series. It was the second playoff series victory in club history and the first since 1976.

Reserve forward John Williams scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Cavaliers, who meet Boston Saturday in Richfield, Ohio. The Celtics are the hottest team in the NBA, having won 11 in a row.

Brad Daugherty scored 19 points, and Mark Price and Larry Nance 16 each for the Cavaliers, who matched Portland for the NBA’s second-best regular-season record at 57-25.

Daugherty played the game with an air cast on the right ankle he sprained Tuesday. He was wincing in pain while limping around the locker room after the game.

“My ankle felt like it had a bowling ball wrapped around it, but their inside game has to be shut down,” he said.

Chris Morris and Derrick Coleman scored 22 points each for the Nets, who shot only 29% against a tough Cavalier defense after the first quarter. The Nets were 13 of 21 in the first quarter and 20 of 69 thereafter, including three-for-20 shooting in the fourth quarter when Cleveland came back from a 73-67 deficit.

The Cavaliers never led until the 8:16 mark of the fourth quarter when Williams, who scored six points in the 11-2 spurt that opened the period, converted a layup for a 76-75 edge.

After the Nets regained the lead at 79-78, Cleveland took the lead for good with six consecutive points, including two jump shots by Nance. The closest the Nets came after that was 84-82, and the Cavaliers ended the game by scoring eight of the last 12 points.

New Jersey led by 10 in the first minute of the second half before Daugherty scored nine points during a 22-13 spurt that pulled the Cavaliers to 63-62, the closest they got in the first three periods after the Nets started the game with an 8-0 run.

But Coleman, who scored nine of his 11 third-quarter points in a span of 2:42, helped New Jersey rebuild the margin to eight before Nance’s rebound dunk made it 73-67 with 34 seconds left.