Everything follows its own natural rhythm.
So why, since the introduction of The Zack Rulebook, have NBA teams leaned so heavily on drop-back defense to counter Zack?
Here's the thing: with Zack's three-point volume this season, the drop-back defense teams are rushing to use has actually ended up boosting his scoring efficiency.
It's simple math.
Just crunch Zack's average three-point attempts and makes, and you'll see he's hitting these shots at a clip above 55%, thanks to an improved shot selection.
But in the grind of a long regular season, teams need a cost-effective way to deal with Zack's terrifying blend of ball-handling and his ability to create open looks for teammates.
So, with The Zack Rulebook in play, drop-back defense has become the go-to strategy for facing him.
Plus, no matter how open Zack's shooting windows are, he's bound to have off nights.
In real games, the high-intensity contact and physicality allowed by The Zack Rulebook can throw off his shooting touch from deep.
That's why Zack can't just rely on chucking threes to solve every possession.
It's like how Steph Curry, a three-point sniper in later years, still had to attack the rim against the Celtics to maintain his dominance in those Finals.
But since every NBA game has its own randomness, on the court, facing Kevin Garnett's unwavering drop-back defense, Zack's three-point attempts had quietly crept up to 100.
A few possessions later, Zack pulled the trigger again from the top of the key.
Swish!
"Keep backing up!" Zack flashed a "3" at Garnett. "Why don't you just camp in the paint behind Yao Ming and never come out?"
Garnett, the savvy veteran, didn't take the bait.
But in the next few plays, a silent Garnett used two high-intensity, off-ball bumps to disrupt Zack's rhythm on his pull-up threes.
Clank!
Clank!
Zack bricked two straight threes, only rediscovering his stroke from deep at the tail end of the first quarter.
Warriors' possession.
It'd been a minute since Zack punished Garnett. The second he caught a pass, his blood was pumping.
So, he gathered the ball and rose for a pull-up.
Clank!
At Oracle Arena, as the sharp sound of iron echoed, Zack was already shifting to retreat on defense.
But what he didn't expect was Steph Curry, subbing for Nash, swooping in like a superhero to snag the long offensive rebound and immediately flipping the ball back to him.
Catching Curry's pass, Zack took a deep breath, steadied himself, and fired again from deep.
Swish!
Even after three straight misses, Zack's mental toughness as an elite scorer shone through.
His relentless mindset also made Garnett second-guess whether to stick with the drop-back defense for the rest of the game.
"His first two threes tonight had some luck to them, but knowing him…" Garnett said during the quarter break, eyeing Zack's first-quarter stat line—7-for-4 from three, all from outside—to coach Rick Carlisle. "When he sets his mind to something, he doesn't stop."
Garnett read Zack like a book.
Second quarter, back on the floor, Zack immediately launched a three from the top of the key.
The ball rimmed out, landing in Yao Ming's hands, but Zack's dogged determination to punish the drop-back defense left even a seasoned coach like Carlisle in awe of his sheer obsession.
From a basketball perspective, Carlisle wasn't a fan of this stubbornness.
To him, Zack's fixation had hijacked the entire Warriors team, turning the game into his personal crusade. He was firing at will from deep, hogging the ball just to prove he could beat the drop-back defense.
What Carlisle couldn't wrap his head around, though, was this: in the minutes that followed, Warriors coach Mark Malone didn't just let Zack run wild—he encouraged it. The whole team rallied behind him without hesitation.
That first-quarter offensive board Curry grabbed for Zack? Not a one-off.
At Oracle, when Zack's next three clanged off the rim, Draymond beat Bosh to the long rebound and instantly found Zack.
Ball in hand, Zack calmly adjusted his touch and let it fly.
Swish!
"Shoot your shot, man!" Draymond told him. "Miss as many as you want—I'll be out here fetching the ball like a German Shepherd chasing a frisbee!"
In the NBA, Carlisle had never seen a team as wild as these Warriors.
Sure, Zack was shooting whenever he felt like it, but without his teammates' buy-in, there's no way he could've kept firing like that.
Carlisle realized, to his shock, that the Warriors weren't being dragged onto Zack's warpath—they'd willingly hopped on board, embarking on a journey with no clear destination.
In Carlisle's eyes, even if Zack was leading them straight off a cliff, this team wouldn't blink.
And as Zack found his groove again, the drop-back defense stopped working that night.
Swish!
From the right wing, feeling like the hoop was as wide as the ocean, Zack didn't hesitate, rising and drilling his sixth three of the game.
Two possessions later, catching a pass on the right side, Zack fired mid-drift without a second thought.
Swish!
Garnett, who'd been conserving energy with the drop-back, had no choice but to extend his defensive range.
But at the end of the second quarter, Zack lit up Oracle Arena.
As Nash brought the ball up, noticing Garnett hounding Zack all the way to the logo, he initially planned to use Zack's gravity to create a quick finish for the team.
But seeing the fire in Zack's eyes, Nash hesitated for a split second before passing to him.
In that moment, Nash didn't stop to think how Zack could possibly attack from the logo with just 3 seconds left on the clock.
Or how, with Bibby abandoning his man to double-team alongside Garnett, Zack had zero space to work with.
"I knew he wanted the ball," Nash said later. "So I gave it to him."
Catch, turn, and fire—Zack launched a logo-range snipe over two defenders, answering Nash's trust with action. In the Bay, at Oracle, the only rule is that there are no rules!
Swish!
At the broadcast booth, as Zack's logo shot splashed through, Rick Barry lost it: "LOGO SHOT!!! The Messiah just buried the Sonics from the logo to close the half!"
It was a luck-drenched logo shot.
But Zack's fearless willingness to take and make it was the real key.
After the bucket, Zack didn't linger—he jogged straight to the locker room.
Draymond, stepping in for the guy who'd just flexed and fled, took the interview.
"When he let it fly, I knew it was good," Draymond said. "This is another God-given moment. That's why we love the Messiah—he's always pulling off something unreal!"
Carlisle hated to admit it, but Zack's obsession had beaten reason in this Christmas Day showdown.
His eight first-half threes had already thrown the Sonics' defense into chaos.
That logo shot to close the half? It flipped the game's momentum entirely.
"Every time he raises up, I feel like it's going in," Garnett admitted later. "It makes guarding him nerve-wracking."
After halftime, the Sonics scored two quick points via Yao Ming. Zack responded by drawing a three-point foul on Garnett's aggressive closeout.
At the free-throw line, Zack went 3-for-3.
And as his hand got hotter, even with the Sonics tweaking their defense in the second half, Zack had no intention of ending his shooting clinic.
Near the baseline, faking a cut off a Draymond screen, Zack suddenly darted back to the right corner.
Without hesitation, Nash zipped him the ball.
Facing Garnett's defense, Zack rose and nailed his ninth three of the night from his favorite right corner.
Three possessions later, Garnett's tight defense forced a miss on a 45-degree three from the right side. But the very next play, Zack, still ignoring all reason, rose over Garnett's contest at the top of the key.
Swish!
"He's got ten threes! He's turned this Christmas game into his personal shooting gallery!"
Zack's next two three-point attempts missed.
But just as the Sonics' defense caught a breather, Zack, slipping off-ball to the right corner again, fired his 19th three of the game.
Swish!
Three quarters in, Zack was nearing 20 three-point attempts.
If that's not insane, what is?
Carlisle was at a loss for words to describe this version of Zack.
Even Kobe's 2005-06 season didn't feel this unhinged.
Late in the third, Zack and Garnett reenacted the iconic "Reggie Miller vs. Jordan" moment.
In the stands, as Zack dragged the old Wolf King around the court, Warriors fans held their breath, waiting for him to shake Garnett with an off-ball move.
On the wing, an exhausted Garnett grabbed at air. In the next second, he watched Zack catch and shoot from the left arc.
Swish!
Zack hit his 12th three of the night.
Oracle Arena erupted, with Rick Barry announcing to the crowd: "The Messiah has tied the NBA single-game three-point record, shared by Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall, with 12 makes!"
That night, Zack's relentless mission to torch Garnett's drop-back defense left everyone stunned.
Before the fourth quarter, the Oracle crowd chanted Zack's name in unison.
Warriors coach Mike Malone, not one to kill the vibe, kept Zack on the floor.
With five minutes left and the Sonics trailing by 19, they waved the white flag. Zack exited to a roaring ovation, subbed out by McRoberts.
His shooting cooled in the fourth, going 1-for-4 from three.
But it was enough to rewrite history.
Final stat line: 27-for-15 overall, 24-for-13 from three, 7-for-7 from the line, 50 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal.
Thirteen threes in a game!
The open looks, the scorching hot hand, and a night kissed by luck were the main reasons Zack made history.
But as the new NBA single-game three-point record holder, Zack, who's always dreamed of being a legendary shooter, had one thing to say:
"Who's next?!"
Final score: 110-128.
Finally getting revenge against the drop-back defense, Zack was in high spirits. In his postgame interview, he said, "I've never doubted I'm the best-shooting big man in NBA history. Tonight, I just played my game."
Was Zack really just playing his usual game?
Obviously not.
But in a moment like this, if Zack didn't talk a little smack, what was the point of the performance?
"You just set a new NBA single-game three-point record. Are you entering the Three-Point Contest next?" a reporter asked, trying to stir the pot.
The question hit Zack like a bucket of ice water, but ever polite, he answered: "I don't think it's time for me to do the Three-Point Contest yet. Besides, I've always thought my shooting style is built for games, not exhibitions."
Just like dunks have a difference between game and contest versions, three-point shooting does too.
To secure absolute control over his shots, Zack uses a straight-up, straight-down pull-up motion, which takes longer than the quick-release styles of pure shooters.
But the real reason he's dodging this season's Three-Point Contest? He'll never tell a soul.
And that reason will stay locked in his heart forever.
"We all just witnessed an incredible shooting performance," said Steph Curry, already signed up for the Dallas All-Star Weekend Three-Point Contest, in his postgame interview. "I hope my shooting can be as clutch as the Messiah's was tonight."
Zack's always thought he's got skin thicker than a brick wall.
But hearing Curry say he wants to shoot like him? Zack quickly looked the other way.
"I told y'all, when he wants it to go in, it's going in," Draymond bragged about Zack at the press conference. "After tonight, our next opponents better learn to respect the Messiah."
Draymond wasn't done: "Every shot he takes is a work of art, worth replaying frame by frame. And that Zack Rulebook? Can it really stop him? He's shown you lately—he's the greatest player in NBA history, the undisputed GOAT!"
Loyal Warriors deserve rewards.
That night, Draymond, led by Zack, partied till dawn.
Two stunning, statuesque Slavic women fell easily to the "scholar-athlete" Draymond.
"Even a dog's gotta pick the right master," Draymond said afterward, still buzzing. "Otherwise, you're just a starving mutt, scraping for scraps."
…
Zack's 13 threes in the Christmas game kept making waves.
But contrary to Draymond's prediction, the Warriors' opponents didn't start respecting Zack more. If anything, they doubled down on the drop-back defense in the final three games of 2009, holding Zack to 7-for-24 from three.
It frustrated him.
Even when Grover told him his inconsistent three-point shooting stemmed from constant physical battles affecting his touch, Zack knew better. In the [Peak] system's visualized data, his three-point potential had been frozen for years, showing no growth.
Sure, he could still use his unmatched scoring ability to pile up points.
But the world couldn't understand his urgency.
If his three-point shot was just a little more consistent, against the relentless drop-back defenses, Zack was confident he could effortlessly break his own NBA single-season scoring average record, dating back to when full stats were first tracked.
"Next time I open a random skill attribute pack, I hope I luck out and get three-point potential," Zack prayed silently on New Year's Day, dreaming of becoming a legendary shooter.