Starting a four-game road trip, on the heels of six teams outings in less than two weeks, the Los Angeles Lakers lost, 118-106, to the Orlando Magic on Monday.

Lasting 38 minutes in Kia Center, Luka Doncic settled at 32 points with 9/23 field goals. He added seven assists, seven rebounds, and one steal.

“I think me and Bron should be the guys to do that. That’s on me. Obviously, I’ve got to do better, I’ve got to talk more. I talked in the first half, then just kind of voiced down and I shouldn’t do that,” the 26-year-old combo guard talked about the hosts pulling away in the second half to eventually secure a win.

“We get paid to do that. It shouldn’t be an excuse. Everybody, at some point, has a tough schedule,” the Slovenian sensation stressed during a postgame press conference, “We got to look at how we are playing. We just need to be better.”

Sharing a game-high 32 points with Doncic, German Franz Wagner also produced nine assists, five rebounds, and one steal over 38 minutes. Helping the Magic jump to 34-38 in the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season, Paolo Banchero threw in 30 points.

“It’s always a big game, good atmosphere, when the Lakers are in town. But more importantly, the way our season has been, we haven’t won two in a row in a while, so it was a big game for us,” reacted Wagner.

“Our approach was really good,” he continued, “When they made runs. We always stayed together. It’s our job to be out here but it’s also fun to be out here. I think the best players always find a way to enjoy the game.”

His brother, Moritz, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season since having surgery in his left knee in December. Further European options for head coach Jamahl Mosley went from German Tristan da Silva putting in two points, one steal, and one rebound, and Georgian Goga Bitadze with four rebounds and one steal.

For the Lakers, Ukrainian Alex Len stayed on the bench and German Maxi Kleber remained out rehabbing surgery in his fight foot.