Morning Briefing

Basketball

Mike Dunleavy stepped down as the Los Angeles Clippers’ head coach Thursday, retaining his job as general manager.

Assistant coach Kim Hughes will be the interim replacement for Dunleavy, who has led the Clippers to just one winning season since taking over the star-crossed franchise in 2003.

The Clippers abruptly announced the moves in a news release, saying the decision was voluntary and mutual. Los Angeles (21-28) has lost five of six heading into Saturday’s home game against San Antonio.

n LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 13 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied for a 96-93 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs in NBA action.

Cavaliers 102, Heat 84: LeBron James scored 36, leading host Cleveland past Miami.

n The NCAA met with conference commissioners, university presidents and athletic directors about the possibility of expanding the men’s basketball tournament.

So far, it’s slow going.

The NCAA started talking about expansion in the fall and hasn’t gotten past the discussion stage yet.

Many coaches and administrators like the idea of expansion and believe its a necessary step to accommodate a growing game. There are more teams than ever — 347 in Division I — more depth in the bigger conferences and more talent at the mid-major level.

Early alternatives brought up include increasing the tournament field to 68 (four play-in games instead of one) or enveloping the NIT to make it a 96-team field.

Dustin Johnson kept bogeys off his card and fired a 7-under 64 to build a one-shot lead over Andres Romero and Kevin Stadler in the first round of the PGA’s Northern Trust Open at Los Angeles.

David Duval and Ernie Els were in the large group at 68 and Phil Mickelson wound up with a 72.

Hockey

Steve Mason had 22 saves and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the visiting Dallas Stars 2-1 in NHL action.

Senators 3, Canucks 1: Brian Elliott made 29 saves, leading host Ottawa past Vancouver.

Wild 4, Oilers 2: At St. Paul, Minn., Martin Havlat scored twice, leading Minnesota past Edmonton.

Sharks 4, Blues 2: Thomas Greiss made 35 saves, leading San Jose at St. Louis.

Kings 6, Ducks 4: Anze Kopitar had two goals and two assists, leading host Los Angeles past Anaheim.

Predators 5, Avalanche 3: Patric Hornqvist had two goals and an assist to help host Nashville beat Colorado.

Capitals 6, Rangers 5: Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and four assists, leading Washington at New York.

Canadiens 3, Bruins 2, SO: Brian Gionta’s shootout goal lifted Montreal at Boston.

Lightning 5, Islanders 2: At Tampa, Fla., Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist, leading Tampa Bay past New York.

n Ryan Whitney of the Anaheim Ducks and Tim Gleason of the Carolina Hurricanes were chosen to replace injured defensemen Paul Martin and Mike Komisarek on the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

The moves to replace Martin and Komisarek were made less than two weeks before the United States’ opening game in Vancouver against Switzerland on Feb. 16.

Baseball

A person with knowledge of the negotiations said that the Seattle Mariners and left-hander Erik Bedard are getting close to a one-year contract, pending a physical.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Mariners have not announced a deal.

— The Associated Press