seems alright.. any condensation occuring from leaves touching? if not it's fine.
You don't ever have to defoliate if you simply avoid over-crowding the canopy in future. It's a needless thing of no value. light hitting leaves further away is not as optimal as hitting something closer, fwiw... just losing more photons. The products of photosynthesis go where they are used and highly mobile. Apical dominance determines if a bud is larfy or not and not so much if light hits it directly. sex organs are for reproduction. leaves are for absorbing light. your balls don't store adipose tissue, correct? cell differentiation is a thing.