Walton Breaks Finger; will be out of action for two months

December 6, 1983 James Donaldson, the massive reserve center obtained by the San Diego Clippers for just such an emergency, will be called upon to take the place of the injured Bill Walton for the next several weeks.

Walton broke a finger Sunday in Los Angeles and will be out of action for two months. 

Donaldson was obtained in a trade from the Seattle SuperSonics during the off-season as a precaution against further injury to Walton.

Donaldson, 7-foot-2, 270 pounds, averaged 6.8 points per game as opposed to Walton's 16.1 points per game average.

''It's going to be a major adjustment,'' said San Diego coach Jim Lynam. ''We're a very different team wthout Bill Walton. It would be unfair for us to expect James to score as much as Bill does, but we'll expect him to rebound the ball a little better than he's been doing and to be consistent.''

Lynam said Walton's outlet passes that start the Clippers' fast break would be missed during the next two months. Lynam said he would adjust his offense to better accommodate Donaldson's abilities underneath.

Clippers general manager Paul Phipps said he may shop around for another front-line player to add some scoring punch to the line-up. He added any new acquisition would probably be as a 12th man.

''We made the trade with Seattle because we were fearful Bill would have setbacks,'' said Phipps. ''Now is the time for James to show that the trade was good for us.''