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From Jeff Miller: The Chargers are expected to meet with Jim Harbaugh a second time regarding their head coaching position, according to someone familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The Michigan coach is one of 15 candidates identified during the team’s first round of interviews.
The Chargers announced Monday that they interviewed Dawn Aponte, their ninth candidate for general manager.
The Chargers are seeking replacements for Brandon Staley, fired as head coach, and Tom Telesco, fired as general manager. Telesco is in the running to be Las Vegas’ next general manager, according to reports.
Harbaugh, 60, won a national title this month with the Wolverines. He has spent nine years at Michigan, his alma mater and the place where he first rose to prominence as a quarterback.
Before that — from 2011 to 2014 — Harbaugh led the San Francisco 49ers to a 44-19-1 record and three consecutive NFC championship games.
His 49ers reached one Super Bowl — after the 2012 season — losing to a Baltimore team coached by Harbaugh’s brother, John.
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NFL PLAYOFFS
From Sam Farmer: Happy anniversary, Detroit Lions.
Precisely three years after newly hired coach Dan Campbell delivered his introductory news conference — widely dismissed as just another deluded dreamer thinking he could fix a hopelessly fractured franchise — the reborn Lions barged into the NFC championship game.
Whereas the other three teams in this weekend’s conference championship games have a combined 10 Super Bowl wins — San Francisco (five), Kansas City (three) and Baltimore (two) — Detroit is one of four NFL franchises that has yet to reach football’s biggest stage.
These Lions, who knocked off Tampa Bay on Sunday after beating the Rams a week early, are the gritty, feel-good team of the postseason.
In the aftermath of a 31-23 victory over the Buccaneers, Campbell said life’s a little tougher in Detroit than other parts of the country, and that helps forge the football community.
NFL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Conference championship
Sunday
AFC
No. 3 Kansas City at No. 1 Baltimore, noon, CBS, Paramount+
NFC
No. 2 Detroit at No. 1 San Francisco, 3:30 p.m., Fox, Fox Deportes
Note: Super Bowl is Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+
LAKERS
From Dan Loumena: LeBron James will not be available to play in the Lakers’ game Tuesday night against the Clippers because of soreness in his left ankle.
The team listed James as out on the injury report, while listing forwards Anthony Davis (Achilles tendon) and Jarred Vanderbilt (heel) as probable. It will be the fifth game of the season that James has not played. He last sat out Jan. 13 against the Utah Jazz.
It will be the third of four meetings between the hallway rivals this season. The Lakers won both tightly contested games earlier this season: 130-125 in overtime on Nov. 1 and 106-103 on Jan. 7.
Lakers vs. Trail Blazers takeaways: Cam Reddish feeling good again
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Even after a winter spending spree that netted two high-priced starting pitchers, the Dodgers aren’t yet done adding to their new-look rotation.
The team is nearing a deal with free-agent left-hander James Paxton, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly since the agreement was not yet complete.
Though negotiations haven’t crossed the finish line, Paxton and the Dodgers were discussing a one-year contract with a salary in the $12-million range, plus potential performance bonuses, one person said. The sides were believed to be getting close to an agreement, with terms expected to be finalized as soon as Monday night.
KINGS
Fabian Zetterlund scored the first goal of the game and the clinching goal in a shootout to lift the San José Sharks over the slumping Kings 4-3 on Monday night.
William Eklund and Justin Bailey also scored in regulation for the NHL-worst Sharks, who earned their first road win against a Western Conference opponent this season and won their second consecutive game overall.
Logan Couture and Zetterlund converted in the shootout. Kaapo Kahkonen made 44 saves and denied both Los Angeles shooters in the tiebreaker.
Drew Doughty, Trevor Moore and Quinton Byfield scored for the Kings, who have lost 11 of 13. David Rittich stopped 24 shots. Byfield also had an assist, and Kevin Fiala had two assists.
Doughty salvaged a point for Los Angeles by burying a power-play slap shot during a six-on-four advantage with 1:58 remaining in the third period to tie it 3-3. But after neither team was able to score in overtime, Moore put his shootout attempt wide and Adrian Kempe was stopped by Kahkonen before Zetterlund ended it.
UCLA BASKETBALL
Kennady McQueen had a season-high 21 points, Dasia Young and Matyson Wilke each made four three-pointers and No. 16 Utah upended No. 2 UCLA 94-81 in overtime on Monday night.
Young and Wilke each had season highs of 16 points to overcome an off-game by their star Alissa Pili, who had 16 points on four-of-15 shooting.
Utah (14-5, 4-3 Pac-12) had never defeated a team ranked this high and had never beat the Bruins (15-2, 4-2) three times in a row.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1944 — The Detroit Red Wings defeat the New York Rangers 15-0 to set an NHL record for consecutive goals.
1979 — Willie Mays is named on 409 of 432 ballots and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
1993 — Mike Gartner of the New York Rangers sets an NHL record when he reaches 30 goals for the 14th consecutive season. Gartner, with three goals in the Rangers’ 8-3 victory over Los Angeles, surpasses Phil Esposito, Bobby Hull and Wayne Gretzky.
2001 — Sam Cassell scores 22 points and the Bucks hit a franchise record 14 3-pointers to beat the Knicks 105-91 and snap New York’s NBA-record 33-game streak of holding opponents to under 100 points.
2005 — Jennifer Rodriguez becomes the first American woman in nine years to win the World Sprint Speedskating Championship.
2010 — Lindsey Vonn makes it five wins in five downhills this season. Her 30th World Cup victory ties her with Croatia’s Janica Kostelic for eighth place on the career list and nearly halfway to Austrian leader Annemarie Moser-Proell’s 62 wins.
2011 — Francesca Schiavone wins the longest women’s match in Grand Slam history — a 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova that takes 4 hours, 44 minutes at the Australian Open. Schiavone saves six match points, then converts on her third match point in the longest women’s match at a major in terms of time in the Open era.
2015 — Klay Thompson sets an NBA record for the most points in a quarter, a 37-point third period that powers the Golden State Warriors to a 126-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Thompson makes all 13 shots and finishes with a career-high 52 points.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.