To reproduce the issue locally and expedite the investigation process, the team could have utilized techniques such as load testing and chaos engineering. Load testing involves simulating realistic user traffic to the service, which can help in identifying performance bottlenecks under different load conditions. Chaos engineering involves intentionally introducing failures or disruptions to the system to observe how it behaves under stress. By incorporating these techniques into their testing and debugging processes, the team can create more robust and resilient services that are better equipped to handle performance issues.