Walton’s Made His Best Transition : His Switch From the Clippers to the Celtics Is a Winner

Bill Walton rips down the rebound and fires the ball to the flank. Five seconds later, the fastbreak he started ends in a field goal.

It is called transition basketball, turning an opponent’s thrust into a successful counterattack. It abruptly changes the flow of a game. Transition is Walton’s strength.

“I love the transition game,” says the Boston Celtics’ backup center. “That’s my type of game.”

It also is Walton’s type of life.

He was a three-time All-American and won two NCAA titles at UCLA. He was the first choice in the 1974 National Basketball Association draft. With Portland, he won the NBA title in 1977 and most valuable player award in 1978.

Then things went bad.

Foot injuries knocked him out of basketball for three of the next four seasons. There was a dispute with Portland over his treatment. He was told he would never play again.

But he fought that diagnosis and played well the past three seasons with the Clippers. They moved from San Diego to Los Angeles before last season but still had their sixth straight losing record.

“Winning’s what matters to me,” Walton says. “That’s all I care about.”

So he took control of the situation and went back to the transition game.

A free agent after last season, Walton picked up the telephone in June and asked Boston for a job. The 1984 champion and 1985 runner-up gave it to him by sending forward Cedric Maxwell and a 1986 first-round draft choice to the Clippers on Sept. 6.

For the most part, he has made his latest transition as smoothly as he yanks down rebounds and whips the outlet pass.

“I’m getting a little bit more comfortable playing with these guys and they’re getting a little more comfortable with the type of things I do out on the basketball court,” Walton said.

The former ponytailed hippie, now a clean-cut family man, seems comfortable with his transition from West Coast to East Coast, from starter to substitute and from a losing team to a winner.

He lives with his wife and four sons in Cambridge’s university atmosphere, less than a mile from Harvard Square.

“I like that stuff,” he said. “We’re just getting started here. We’re having a lot of fun. . . . I’ve got my family here. That’s what counts for me.”

More and more, he is fitting into the Celtics’ family. Healthy again at age 32, he has missed few practices after sitting out many with the Clippers.

“He’s very coachable,” said Boston Coach K.C. Jones. “He’s been around for years so now he wants to just be with a club that can go somewhere.”

After a strong preseason performance, Walton didn’t live up to his billing. He had seven turnovers and five fouls in his first regular-season game, five turnovers and five fouls in his third game and only 14 points in his first three contests.

But he made another transition in the fourth game.

In that 109-105 victory over Atlanta, Walton scored six of his team’s eight consecutive points that turned a 96-91 deficit into a 99-96 lead. He finished with 14 points. He also has unveiled his exceptional rebounding, passing and defensive skills.

“He’s doing very well,” Jones said. “He’s relaxed a little bit. I think he was overanxious to really try to prove to people that he could be worth something here.”

His teammates didn’t need much convincing that he could make a club that had the NBA’s best record in each of the past two seasons still better.

“He’s just such an intelligent player that a lot of things go unnoticed that he’s really doing well,” guard Jerry Sichting said.

“We have the luxury now that either one of us is going to get the job done or we’re both going to get it done,” said starting center Robert Parish. “There’s a more relaxed atmosphere now at the center position. I don’t have to be aware of not getting into foul trouble.”

As a high school player in Oregon, Danny Ainge idolized Walton when he was with the Trail Blazers.

“The way he played was just spectacular, day in and day out, how he made the players around him so much better,” said Boston’s starting guard. “He still does the same things and the other guys on the team pick up on it. Kevin (McHale) and Robert are making passes that they’ve never made before just by watching Bill make passes.

“I’m not so sure that’s good,” he laughed. “I don’t know if they can do it.”

As a scorer, Walton has averaged in double figures in each of his eight NBA campaigns. He averaged only 6.1 points and 19 minutes per game through seven games this season. But he says that’s not important.

“I just like winning. That’s why I play,” Walton said. “I’m going to do whatever it takes for this team to win each and every game and the championship.”