Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul was all smiles after his side's crucial 114-111 road win against the New Orleans Pelicans, in a city that holds a special place in the heart of the 'Point God'.
With Devin Booker out for the game with a hamstring injury, Chris Paul assumed a greater offensive load on Friday and took it in stride.
He posted a gaudy playoff stat line of 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, with 14 assists, while Deandre Ayton was superb, riding a hot start to a 28-point (13-of-20 shooting), 17-rebound showing.
Paul, who was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets back in 2005, dismissed a question in the post-game press conference about whether he heard fans in the arena chanting their displeasure for their former favourite son, and wrapped his arms around the city he once called home.
"These are my people, man. I grew up here," he said. "Six of the best years of my life I played for New Orleans.
"I know how I am with this city, that will never change. I have my parents here, my family here.
"There's nothing like it, it will always be so much love between me and the city here."
Touching on the game, Paul was full of praise for both Suns centers who played key roles in Game 3.
"[Ayton's start] was huge, it was big-time," he said. "You can't replace everything that Devin [Booker] does for us, so it's going to be different spurts, where guys get going.
"[Ayton] kept us in this game in order to bring it home down the stretch… he kept telling me he was going to get me loose, and to stop passing and just shoot the ball.
"JaVale [McGee] was amazing. We talked about it – this was the third game where Larry Nance came in and they started to switch everything – so we wanted to try and punish them on the inside.
"JaVale's energy is contagious – him rebounding and getting those put-backs kept us in the game, too."
The Suns were a top-10 team in three-point percentage during the regular season, but shot just four-of-26 from downtown on Friday.
Paul went into detail about why he feels that stat bodes well for his side going forward in this series, and why he thinks they are built to handle adversity and win tough games.
"We got a lot of good looks," he said. "I was one-for-six, and I didn't realise we were four-of-26 [from three-point range] – but the thing about it is we got great looks.
"All season long we've been a really good shooting team, so to win this game without shooting well, that's a plus for us, because if we can get the same shots next game, hopefully we can knock them down.
"We've got a good group who have been together – we're sort of battle-tested when it comes to things. We went on an incredible run last year, and we're still building.
"I don't know the amount of playoff games our team has under our belts, so everything is still new to a certain extent, but guys know what to expect, and we know what we want to get to [offensively] down the stretch."
Trae Young said he had no doubts that his game-winning shot would go in, and gave a special mention to the role players who ignited the Atlanta Hawks' 111-110 win against the Miami Heat.
The crucial win pulled the series margin back to 2-1, avoiding a dreaded 3-0 lead for the Heat, but it required some late-game heroics from Young to get the job done.
Trailing by one point with 12 seconds to go, Atlanta did not call a timeout, instead opting to live or die with Young's decision making. Weaving through the defense, Young got to his floater and made no mistake, putting his side up by one with less than five seconds on the clock.
Speaking with post-game media, Young broke down what was going through his mind on that crucial last shot.
"I didn't have any doubt that if I shot it that I was going to make it, but I was really just trying to make the right read," he said.
"I was driving to the middle and waiting to see if somebody helped, and to be honest I was going to hit a shooter if they helped, or if they didn't I was going to go to the basket like I did.
"We just didn't give up. We didn't stop fighting, or stop playing. In the NBA, teams are going to make runs.
"They made their run in that third quarter, and got going, and it was about our time to make a run too."
He went on to finish with 24 points and eight assists, shooting six-of-14 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line, but he was just one of seven Hawks to score at least nine points in the contest.
The All-NBA point guard made a point of shouting out the three-man group of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Delon Wright and Onyeka Okongwu, who played a massive role in coming back from a 94-80 deficit with less than 10 minutes to play.
"[The chemistry] was great," he said. "It started on the defensive end for Delon and 'O' [Okongwu].
"They really helped us get out in transition and push the ball – and when 'Bogey' [Bogdanovic] gets hot like that, he's one of the best shooters in this league. He got going tonight and it really sparked our offense.
"This was a total team effort, and a total team win, so it was a great job by our whole team tonight."
With the Hawks' season on the line, and coming off a Game 2 in which he had 10 turnovers, Young touched on the adjustments he made coming into Friday's game.
"I didn't think I took care of the ball in Game 2, so I wanted to come here and take care of the ball, and at least give our team a shot on the offensive end," he said. "I just wanted to play the right way.
"I think in the first two games [of the series] – having to really battle to get into the position we were in [through the play-in tournament] really wore on us.
"I think tonight showed that when we've got our guys [fresher] and we take care of the ball, we can play.
"It's only one game, so I've got to do it again."
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge hit two home runs to guide his side to a 4-1 win against the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium on Friday.
Judge, 29, has been vocal about his decision to test free agency ahead of next season after he and the Yankees failed to come to an agreement on a contract extension before Opening Day.
Demonstrating his value, he stepped up with two outs and one runner on base in the third inning, and crushed a fastball back over Guardians pitcher Eli Morgan's head to center-field.
His very next at-bat, Judge did it again, blasting a high fastball into the right-field bleachers for a solo shot, giving the Yankees a 4-1 lead.
The New York pitching staff did an excellent job of defending the lead throughout, as Jameson Taillon started and pitched five strong frames for five strikeouts, and one run from seven hits with no walks. He was relieved by Michael King for the sixth inning, and he was even better, striking out eight of the 10 batters he faced, conceding just one hit.
Aroldis Chapman finished things off with a save, hitting 101mp/h with the last pitch of the night for a strikeout.
Wander whacks a pair
The jewel of the Tampa Bay Rays and one of the best prospects in all of baseball, Wander Franco, hit a pair of home runs in a 4-3 home loss against the Boston Red Sox.
Franco, 21, was named the number one prospect in the majors prior to his debut, and he has done nothing to change anyone's mind as he is sporting a batting average of .393.
He hit a solo home run in the first inning, and another in the fifth inning, but the Red Sox scored twice in the opening frame and never allowed the Rays to tie things up.
Mookie mashes for the Dodgers
Mookie Betts joined the list of stars to hit two home runs on Friday in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-1 win against the San Diego Padres.
In a clash between two of the best teams in the league, Julio Urias put in a terrific starting pitching performance, allowing just one run and five baserunners in five innings.
The Dodgers did not take the lead until the fifth inning, when Mookie Betts bombed a 420-foot solo shot to lead off the inning and tie the game at 1-1, before Max Muncy also sent a towering fly ball over the fence just three batters later.
Muncy drove in another two runs in the seventh, before Betts put the finishing touches on in the ninth inning with his second homer.
Trae Young hit a dramatic game-winner with less than five seconds remaining in the Atlanta Hawks' 111-110 home win against the Miami Heat.
The win is the Hawks' first of the series, keeping things alive at 2-1 with Game 4 remaining in Atlanta, while Kyle Lowry may be missing for the Heat after leaving Friday's game with a hamstring complaint.
Momentum switched hands throughout the contest, with Atlanta putting up 39 points in the second quarter to lead 61-54 at half-time, before the Heat came out on fire in the third, winning the frame 31-16 to take an eight-point lead into the last.
Miami extended their lead to 94-80 with 9:06 to play in the fourth quarter, when Bogdan Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu began to drag the home side back into the game.
Bogdanovic hit a trio of three-pointers in less than three minutes, while Okongwu had seven points down the stretch and was the Hawks' primary defensive presence on the interior, more than holding his own against Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler.
But after a P.J. Tucker three-ball put the Heat up 110-109 with 54 seconds to play, only one man was going to have the final say for the Hawks.
When Butler missed a jump shot with 12 seconds left, the Hawks opted not to call a time-out, letting Young make his way up the court quickly, weaving his way into the lane for one of his trusty floaters, getting the friendly home-rim roll.
He finished with 24 points on six-of-14 shooting, also dishing nine assists. Bogdanovic had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and De'Andre Hunter scored 17, including some important buckets when the Hawks were sputtering.
Butler's desperation three on the buzzer fell short, but he played well, scoring 20 (eight-of-20 shooting) with 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Tyler Herro led the Heat in scoring with 24 off the bench and Max Strus had 20, hitting five-of-10 from three-point range.
Paul, Ayton carry Phoenix
The duo of Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton led the top-seeded Phoenix Suns to a crucial Game 3 114-111 win against the New Orleans Pelicans to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
With Devin Booker absent for at least this game and the next, Paul had to take on a greater offensive burden than usual, but he did it in style, racking up 14 assists and scoring 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting.
He needed someone to get hot with him, and Ayton rose to the occasion, scoring 28 points on 13-of-20 shooting and grabbing 17 rebounds, with three steals and a block. The performance demonstrated the ability to be an offensive focal point that was envisioned when he was selected number one overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.
It was far from smooth sailing for the Suns, as the Pelicans kept it close throughout, and even poked their head in front at 93-92 with less than six minutes to play.
But the Suns as has been the story of the Suns' season, they have been the best clutch team in the NBA, and once again showed why. Paul's surgical precision on the offensive end, and a sea of swarming length and physicality on the defensive end, was too much for a young Pelicans team that played three rookies in the fourth quarter (Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III and Jose Alvarado).
Brandon Ingram had 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting in a strong performance for New Orleans, and C.J. McCollum also contributed 30 points (11-of-23 shooting), but no other Pelican could score more than a dozen.
Bucks cruise without Middleton
The Milwaukee Bucks were shot out of a cannon and never allowed the Chicago Bulls a foothold into the game, winning 111-81 to take a 2-1 series lead.
With extended minutes due to Khris Middleton's knee injury, Grayson Allen set the tone to close the first quarter, scoring three consecutive three-pointers in just 62 seconds on his way to a game-high tally of 22 points.
With 1:15 to play in the first half, the Bucks opened up their lead to 60-37 as they dominated both ends of the floor.
Giannis Antetokounmpo only needed to play 29 minutes before getting an early rest, scoring 18 points (seven-of-12 shooting) with seven rebounds and nine assists, and the Bucks were plus 36 during his time on the floor.
After only playing six minutes in the Game 2 loss, Bobby Portis made his case for his playoff value with 18 points and 16 rebounds, hitting four of his eight three-point attempts.
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele backed up a record 59 in round one of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a tidy four-under 68 to retain the lead after round two.
The duo birdied holes two and four to get off to a great start, and their only bogey through the first two rounds – on the 12th on Friday – was sandwiched between birdies on 10, 11 and 13.
Their figure of 17 under is a 36-hole record in the event.
Speaking with the media after the round, Cantlay said they were enjoying their form – and the vibes.
"I think we just wanted to hit a bunch of quality golf shots, and we did that today," he said.
"We really fought hard and made a bunch of those mid-range putts, especially in the middle of the round, and that kind of kept the momentum going.
"I felt like we just have had good vibes all week, and we’ve been playing really solid golf. Same game plan for the weekend."
Schauffele added: "Alternate shot is an opportunity to do some cool things if you're making a lot of birdies.
"But for the most part, you're trying to leave your partner in a good spot to make an easy par."
One stroke further back are the pairings of Aaron Rai with David Lipsky and Doc Redman with Sam Ryder. Those teams both shot five under after shooting 61 in the first round.
Jay Haas made history as the oldest player to ever make the final two days of a PGA Tour event, teaming up with son Bill to shoot 65 on Thursday and following it up with a 66 in the tougher Friday format to sit right on the cut line at eight under.
Cameron Tringale and Wyndham Clark are tied for fourth on 15 under, along with the South African pairing of Branden Grace and Garrick Higgo, while Australians Jason Day and Jason Scrivener are one of two teams at 14 under in a tie for sixth.
The Grace-Higgo and Day-Scrivener duos also shared round-of-the-day honours, as the former went bogey-free with seven birdies, and the latter has seven birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the seventh.
Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman, along with Bubba Watson and Harold Varner III, highlight the logjam at 11 under.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and his team-mate Ryan Palmer were disappointing in the second round, but were one of four pairs to make the cut despite shooting even par for the day.
Nancy will lose their fully professional status for the first time after fan protests resulted in relegation from Ligue 2.
France great Michel Platini made his name at Nancy, who have been an ever-present in France's top two tiers since becoming a professional side in 1967.
However, they will play in the third tier next season after their relegation from Ligue 2 was confirmed.
Playing against fellow strugglers Quevilly Rouen on Friday, Nancy needed a positive result to keep their chances of survival alive, yet a fan protest against the club's owners – Pacific Media Group (PMG) – resulted in the match being called off due to security concerns, with smoke bombs having been thrown onto the pitch.
Quevilly were therefore handed a 3-0 victory and three points, confirming Nancy's drop out of the professional leagues.
They last played in Ligue 1 in 2016-17, though had been ever-present in the top flight between 1996 and 2013.
It marked a dark day for PMG, which owns multiple clubs in Europe. Indeed, elsewhere on Friday, Barnsley, another team backed by the American-Chinese consortium, were relegated from the Championship to League One.
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has said Paul Pogba "most likely won't be" staying at the club beyond this season.
Pogba picked up a calf injury in the 4-0 defeat at Liverpool on Tuesday that will keep the midfielder out for a month.
With the Frenchman out of contract at the end of the campaign, and United's final game of 2021-22 coming on May 22, Rangnick does not expect Pogba to feature again, and has now suggested he may have played his final game for the club.
"He won’t be available [at Arsenal] and most likely not for the rest of the games. It seems right now he will not renew his contract [so] it's most likely he won't be here any more next season," Rangnick said at a news conference on Friday.
Pogba has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and former club Juventus in recent weeks.
The 29-year-old won the World Cup with France in 2018, playing a starring role in that Les Bleus team, but has struggled to play at a consistently high level for United since coming back to the Premier League club in 2016.
When asked why Pogba's six years at Old Trafford have been so up and down, Rangnick replied: "It’s difficult to say.
"He’s a player who won the World Cup with France, he's such a good player that he was a regular starter for a team like France. We all know what kind of potential he has and what kind of good player he can be.
"He was quite like a few other players struggling to get his best performance sustainably on the pitch for a team like Man United.
"This has not only been the case this season or in the last couple of weeks. As far as I remember, it was also the case in earlier years."
Manchester United need to make more than "minor amendments" to fix the glaring issues at the club, according to Ralf Rangnick.
United were thrashed 4-0 by old foes Liverpool on Tuesday, and face a huge game in their hopes of securing Champions League football when they take on Arsenal on Saturday.
The match in north London comes two days after United officially confirmed Erik ten Hag as their new boss, though the Ajax coach will not join until the end of the season.
It leaves interim manager Rangnick with five games to salvage a top-four finish from another underwhelming season.
Rangnick is unsure if he will be staying on in a consultancy role at Old Trafford, but he believes the problems at the club are obvious.
"You don't even need glasses to see and analyse where the problems are," Rangnick told a news conference.
"Now it's about how do we solve them? It's not enough to do some minor amendments or cosmetic things.
"In medicine, you would say that this is an operation of the open heart.
"If this happens and everyone has realised that this has to happen and if people want to work together then it makes sense and I believe it doesn't take two or three years to change those things. This can happen within one year."
Rangnick hinted that Ten Hag, however, will need assistance in enacting these changes if they are to be successful.
"For sure [strong leadership is needed]. This is something that not just one single person as a manager can do," he continued.
"With all respect to [Liverpool manager] Jurgen [Klopp] and [Manchester City boss] Pep [Guardiola], I'm sure that they didn't do all the things themselves.
"There were also other people involved in those two clubs, people in certain positions, no matter what area it was, in order to rebuild and build something we want to build here. In all areas you have to have top people and they have to work together in a very close, reliable way."
Asked if he wanted to stay on at United, Rangnick replied: "I still see where we could develop.
"We have perfect training conditions, a great stadium, massive fan support, probably the best I’ve ever experienced apart from Schalke. Of course I would want to be part of the process that has to happen."
Jay Haas is on the verge of becoming the oldest player to ever make the cut of a PGA Tour event, at 68 years old.
Haas is competing in a duo with his son, Bill Haas, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, with the pair shooting 65 in the first-round four-ball, and backing it up with 66 in the second round's alternate shot format to finish Friday on eight under par.
At the time of finishing their round, eight under was the projected cut line.
They were sitting pretty at 10 under after birdieing the 11th hole – their fourth birdie with one bogey up to that point – but further bogeys on 14 and 17 forced a clutch par putt on 18 to hold on.
Carlos Alcaraz produced some supreme tennis as he overcame world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open.
Having already played earlier on Friday, defeating compatriot Jaume Munar 6-3 6-3, 18-year-old Spaniard Alcaraz went the distance against Monte Carlo champion Tsitsipas.
Showing his proficiency on clay, Alcaraz triumphed 6-4 5-7 6-2 to set up a semi-final against Alex de Minaur, who prevailed 6-3 5-7 6-1 over Cameron Norrie.
Alcaraz, the fifth seed, was in excellent form against the top seed and last year's runner-up, and cruised ahead in a dominant first set, striking 14 winners to Tsitsipas' five.
Indeed, Tsitsipas – who had beaten Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets earlier in the day – could not hide his frustration when he smashed the ball hard Alcaraz's way to give up the set, much to the anger of a partisan crowd.
Alcaraz seemed en route to having things wrapped up quickly as he followed up a supreme backhand winner with a sensational drop shot, yet from 4-1 down, Tsitsipas reeled off four straight games to nudge himself ahead, breaking to take the set.
That comeback took just too much out of Tsitsipas, though, with Alcaraz roaring into a 4-0 lead in the decider and, after fending off two breakpoints, sealed his biggest win so far at the first time of asking to reach a fourth semi-final of 2022.
Alcaraz has won all three of his meetings with the Greek and will break into the top 10 of the ATP rankings next week, becoming the youngest player to do so since Spanish great Rafael Nadal in 2005, following his first title in Barcelona.
Indeed, he will be the ninth youngest player overall to make the top 10 and the 20th teenager to do so, though the first since Andy Murray in 2007.
"Probably my biggest win on clay court. It was unbelievable," said Alcaraz.
"Unbelievable game that I played, unbelievable atmosphere that I lived today on court. It was unbelievable everything. The atmosphere here, the crowd, the level that I played, the level of the match. It was incredible.
"I'm playing an incredible level. And I think that I'm ready to get the title."
Vying for a place in the final in the other semi will be Diego Schwartzman and Pablo Carreno Busta, who both produced remarkable turnarounds in their quarter-final matches.
Schwartzman came back to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6 6-2 6-3, following on from an earlier win over Lorenzo Musetti.
Carreno Busta, meanwhile, toppled Casper Ruud 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-3, though only after saving three match points in the second set in a victory that took three hours.
At the Serbia Open, second seed Andrey Rublev defeated qualifier Taro Daniel 6-3 6-3 to progress to the semi-finals.
In windy conditions in Belgrade, Rublev had little trouble in securing a 74-minute win, teeing up a clash with Fabio Fognini and moving to 21-5 for the season.
Rublev has met the Italian on nine occasions previously, losing five times and winning on four occasions.
"It's going to be tough. Fabi, he's super talented, he can play amazing and it's going to be a tough match with a lot of long rallies, so I just need to do my best and we will see what happens," said Rublev.
Fognini made light work of defeating Oscar Otte 7-5 6-4.
Robert Williams is hoping to play some part in Game 3 of the Boston Celtics' playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, according to reports.
The center has been one of the standout players for Boston this season, but has not played since 27 March after undergoing knee surgery.
However, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday that Williams intends to play "limited minutes" at the Barclays Center, with the Celtics 2-0 up in the series.
The 24-year-old was second in the league during the regular season for blocked shots per game (2.20), behind only Jaren Jackson Jr of the Memphis Grizzlies (2.27), and third for offensive rebounds per game (3.9), behind only Steven Adams of the Grizzlies (4.6) and Mitchell Robinson of the New York Knicks (4.1).
Williams also shot a field goal percentage of 73.6 from an average of six attempts per game in his 61 regular-season appearances.
The report went on to claim that Williams hopes to play more minutes on Game 4 on Monday, should he avoid any setbacks, and that he has competed in consecutive five-on-five practices.
Iga Swiatek believes a hard-won victory over Emma Raducanu on Friday will steel her for challenges ahead after reaching the Stuttgart Open semi-finals.
World number one Swiatek landed a 21st consecutive victory as she edged out US Open winner Raducanu 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 45 minutes on the German clay.
There was plenty to admire from both players, but in the end it was another straight-sets success for Swiatek, who dropped only two games in her previous round against German Eva Lys.
It makes the 20-year-old Pole the first woman to win 28 consecutive sets on tour since Serena Williams, who did so from the 2012 US Open to the 2013 Australian Open.
Swiatek broke early in the first set to take charge, and with 19-year-old Raducanu battling a back problem the rankings leader soon got ahead in the second too.
This was Raducanu's first-ever match against a player ranked inside the WTA top 10, a peculiar statistic given she is already a grand slam champion.
Swiatek, like her opponent, knows how it feels to win a grand slam as a teenage surprise package, having triumphed as a 19-year-old at the 2020 French Open when ranked only 54th in the world.
At 4-3 in the second set of this contest, Swiatek saved two break points with clinical forehand winners out of the reach of Raducanu, shouting out in satisfaction moments later as she held serve to move a game away.
Raducanu had two more break chances in Swiatek's next service game but again could not convert as her opponent sealed victory.
Swiatek said: "I'm pretty happy that today's match was longer. Not for now, but for the future it's going to give me a lot of experience.
"Right now I want to play really aggressively, and I think this game style is going to fit the surface, and it fit the hardcourts as well."
She will face unseeded Liudmila Samsonova next after the Russian, playing as a neutral, beat Laura Siegemund 7-5 6-3.
The other semi-final in Stuttgart will see second seed Paula Badosa take on third seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Badosa was a 7-6 (11-9) 1-6 6-3 winner against Ons Jabeur, while Sabalenka fended off Anett Kontaveit 6-4 3-6 6-1.
At the Istanbul Cup, Friday saw quarter-final wins for Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Potapova, along with Sorana Cirstea and Yulia Putintseva.
Those results set up a semi-final on Saturday between second seed Cirstea and third seed Kudermetova, with Putintseva and Potapova also facing off.
Tom Brady has agreed to restructure his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady announced his retirement earlier this year, yet performed a U-turn on that decision last month to re-sign with the Bucs, who he led to a Super Bowl success at the end of the 2020 season.
There had been rumours that the Bucs were set to hold discussions with the 44-year-old, seven-time Super Bowl champion over potentially tying him down beyond the 2022 season, though general manager Jason Licht quashed that speculation.
Tampa have, however, managed to restructure Brady's existing deal to create over $9million of salary cap space ahead of next week's NFL Draft.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the news on Friday, citing league sources.
However, Brady is still set to become a free agent at the end of the season despite the restructuring.
Brady passed for more yards (5,316) than any other quarterback in the NFL across the 2021 regular season, registering a league-high 43 touchdown passes. His completion percentage of 67.5 ranked ninth.
Tampa reached the postseason, but lost to eventual Super Bowl winners the Los Angeles Rams.
Jos Buttler blazed a third century of his remarkable season to help Rajasthan Royals get the better of Delhi Capitals in Mumbai.
The English opener cracked 116 from 65 balls in Rajasthan's 222-2, making his highest score of the IPL campaign so far and emphasising his position as the leading run-scorer in the 2022 competition. Despite a late rally, Delhi fell short by making 207-8 in reply, sliding to a 15-run defeat, with the Royals going top of the table.
This was game seven for the Royals and Buttler, and he came up trumps once more, sharing in a first-wicket partnership of 155 with Devdutt Padikkal (54) before captain Sanju Samson (46no) came out firing for the final overs.
Delhi were up against it from the off but had a sniff of a chance when Rishabh Pant began finding all corners of the Wankhede Stadium; however, Pant's departure for 44 from 24 balls in the 12th over meant there was only tenuous hope left.
Prithvi Shaw (37) and David Warner (28) had given Delhi a reasonable enough start but failed to stick around.
Yuzvendra Chahal at deep fine leg dropped Pant early in the 12th over, misreading the flight of the ball, but the batsman fell two deliveries later. Pant got a top edge when looking to pull into the leg side, and Padikkal watched the ball soar high into the night sky before it fell to allow him to take a fine catch.
Lalit Yadav and Rovman Powell showed fight to leave Delhi needing 36 from the final two overs, but Prasidh Krishna (3-22) then had Yadav caught behind in a remarkable wicket maiden. Three sixes by Powell at the start of the 20th over raised hopes of a miracle finale, but Delhi's protests over a possible no-ball killed their own momentum.
Buttler serves up another ton of treats
Man-of-the-moment Buttler came into this season with one century in 65 IPL matches, spread across six years. Now he has four in 72, and on this occasion it took him 36 balls to reach 50 and only 21 more to advance to three figures.
Buttler made a ton against Mumbai Indians in his second game of the season, and followed that knock of exactly 100 with an impressive 103 in his sixth outing, against Kolkata Knight Riders. There were nine fours and nine sixes in this masterpiece by the 31-year-old, and he has 491 runs for the season, 226 more than the next highest scorer in the competition (KL Rahul – 265).
Surreal McCoy
Royals paceman Obed McCoy cost his team 26 runs with a dreadful over that included nine runs given away in extras, five of which came from a wild and head-high no ball that raced away to the boundary. It was probably the worst delivery that will be bowled in this year's IPL, sailing way outside off stump after slipping out of McCoy's hand and landing several yards wide of wicketkeeper Samson.
When McCoy conceded three sixes from the first three balls of the final over, Delhi needed three more maximums for victory, but the paceman avoided further embarrassment.
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