Murray subbing in nicely with Hawks

Marvin Williams was in the crowd at Seattle’s Key Arena for the opening night of what turned out to be the Flip Murray show.

A relatively unknown Murray was forced into the starting SuperSonics lineup for an injured Ray Allen. He promptly went on a scoring rampage.

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Rich Addicks/raddicks@ajc.com

Flip Murray is averaging 12.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 26 minutes a night for the Hawks.

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Murray scored 20 or more points in 10 of his first 12 games during that 2003-04 season, including a career-high 31 points against Miami that had the city of Seattle and its fan buzzing.

Those fans included Williams, then a high school All-American, who idolized the players on his hometown team.

“Growing up a Sonics fan, and we get Ray Allen, and everybody thought he was there to save our team and then he gets hurt and they throw Flip in there and he was just unreal,” Williams said. “He was totally unreal. My dad loves Flip to this day because of the way he played that year. He was unreal.”

Murray’s been that way off the bench this season for the Hawks, who play Indiana Tuesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse, the same place Murray ended his sixth season last spring.

Murray’s been on a tour of the NBA since his stunning start in Seattle, playing on his sixth team in seven pro seasons. And he insists that he’s finally found a role and that suits him perfectly.

“This is the role I’ve been looking for my whole career,” Murray said. “It took a while but it finally got here. This is the way I wanted to play since I got into the league. It didn’t matter if I started or not, but having the opportunity to play my game and do what I did that got me here, and that’s score the ball. This is the way I love to play.”

Murray is averaging 12.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 26 minutes a night for the 6-3 Hawks.

Murray played in 23 games with the Pacers last season, including starting the final 15 games at point guard (the Pacers were 10-5 with him in the first five), averaging 11.0 points and 3.5 assists during that stretch.

“That was a huge part of our evaluation process of him and in our deciding to bring him here,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said of Murray’s stint with the Pacers. “He’s been huge for us, changing the game off the bench. And I think it’s one of those things where players always have to spend some time finding where they fit in this league. And they have to have a coach that trusts them to do what they do best.

“But I’ll be honest, I didn’t know he was that explosive offensively. I really didn’t. He’s given us a totally new dimension off the bench in terms of coming and breaking teams down off the dribble, scoring and getting to the rim.”

Woodson needed only to ask. Williams said one of the first things he told Murray when they met earlier this season was how much he enjoyed that magical run with the Sonics that season.

“He ran off 20 that first night I was there,” Williams said. “I remember it like yesterday. Again, the dude was unreal. This guy can score, man. And he’s unlike anybody we’ve had off the bench. Salim [Stoudamire] could score the ball. But Flip can finish at the rim. He’s a little bit bigger than Salim, but he’s fearless in that lane and he knows how to finish.”

Murray thought he might finish what he started last season with the Pacers. However, he said, the Pacers never contacted his agent.

“I guess they felt like they wanted to go in another direction,” Murray said. “And that’s cool. I’m in a good spot for me now, really the perfect spot for what I want to do.”