When Reeves caught the ball, no matter how far, Kobe would do his utmost to rush back, completely different from his defensive state in the third quarter.
He would never allow an undrafted player to score freely over his head.
Reeves in the fourth quarter, after playing for seven minutes, made 1 out of 3 shots, still scoring a 3-pointer, but it wasn't enough to create a threat.
However, at the very least, Reeves was consuming Kobe's stamina.
On the defensive end, Kobe had to shuttle back and forth between Roger and Reeves, which was equivalent to one player having to match up against two players, facing double the exhaustion.
This enormous consumption led to fluctuations in Kobe's shooting percentage in the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Kobe was precisely the most relied upon weapon for the Lakers.
This directly lowered the stability of the Lakers in the fourth quarter.
With two minutes left in the game, the Hawks still led by 2 points.
