Jacque Vaughn benched Andrew Nicholson after he scored 18 points in the first half of the Orlando Magic's season opening loss to the Indiana Pacers, all coming in a 12-minute, 39-second stretch.

Nicholson's hot streak did not last. Nicholson was subbed out with 4:51 left in the second quarter and didn’t return to the court until the beginning of the fourth quarter.

When asked why he sat Nicholson in favor of Jason Maxiell, Vaughn said: “I thought Max was unbelievable against David West, and [Pacers coach Frank] Vogel ended up playing David West the entire third. So I thought that matchup was great for us.

"Andrew scored all his points against Scola. And, so, Scola wasn’t in the game, and so it was on me to make that call, and I did.”

With the Boston Celtics as the leading candidate to acquire his rights, Romero Osby is finalizing a deal to sign in the NBA D-League, league sources told RealGM.

Osby was a final cut of the Orlando Magic, who selected the rugged, active forward with the No. 51 pick in the NBA draft. Since Osby’s release in training camp, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Brooklyn Nets have also expressed interest in him, sources said.

Fort Wayne currently owns rights to Osby, but the Celtics’ D-League affiliate – the Maine Red Claws – is working to acquire the 23-year-old. The Celtics have one roster spot open and could call up Osby at a point that is flexible on the team’s salary situation.

Osby averaged 16 points and seven rebounds last season at the University of Oklahoma. He was part of the Magic’s summer league team and became one of the last rookie signings to officially join his drafted organization.

In seven preseason games for the Magic, Osby averaged 5.7 points and four rebounds in 15.4 minutes a game.

The Orlando Magic have exercised their third-year team option on the contracts of forward Maurice Harkless and Andrew Nicholson, while also exercising their fourth-year team option on the contracts of Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic.

Vucevic ranked second in the NBA in rebounding, third in double-doubles (team-high 46), tied for 21st in field goal percentage and tied for 33rd in blocked shots.  

Harris averaged 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.37 blocks in 36.1 minutes per game after being traded by the Milwaukee Bucks to the Magic.

The Orlando Magic have waived Mickell Gladness, Manny Harris, Kris Joseph and Romero Osby.

The Magic's roster now stands at 15 players.

Gladness played in three preseason games, averaging 1.3 ppg., 3.0 rpg. and 3.00 blkpg. in 12.3 minpg.

Harris appeared in six preseason games, averaging 4.3 ppg. and 1.3 rpg. in 9.0 minpg.

Joseph played in five preseason games, averaging 5.6 ppg. and 1.8 rpg. in 11.0 minpg.

Osby played in seven preseason games, averaging 5.7 ppg. and 4.0 rpg. in 15.4 minpg.

Solomon Jones has played 270 regular season games with five different NBA teams since the 2006-07 season. Now as a training camp invite with the Orlando Magic, Jones wants to stay with the organization.

“Nobody is going to give me anything, I know that,” Jones said. “I just go out and play hard every time I’m out there.

"You never know who’s watching. Hopefully, I can make this my last stop.”

Jones scored nine points, had three steals and four rebounds in 26 minutes on Sunday.

Dwight Howard was upset by the decision made by the Orlando Magic to allow Tobias Harris to wear No. 12, Howard's number with the franchise.

"I just think that despite whatever happened, there was a lot of things that I did and that we did as a team, and that number was special down there," Howard said. "And I was a little bit upset about that."

Howard unlikely knows that Harris wanted to wear No. 12 as a tribute to a close friend who had died of leukemia at the age of 17.

When making his free agency decision in the summer, Dwight Howard was careful to avoid making some of the mistakes that plagued him in his departure from the Orlando Magic.

Howard left the Los Angeles Lakers to sign with the Houston Rockets.

"Everybody's saying I was a 'coward' for leaving [the Lakers], and I knew I was going to get that," Howard said Tuesday. "But I think with the situation I had to do what was best for Dwight.

"I know when I wanted to leave Orlando, and I decided to stay, I wasn't happy on the inside. I wanted to please everybody else and ended up hurting a lot of people by doing it the way I did. So, this time it's like I had a second chance.

"I said, 'You know what? People are going to hate me for whatever reason, so I can't allow that to stop me from making my decision.' I thought that my decision took a lot of guts because everybody's saying, 'How could you leave the Lakers and six billion fans?' But I don't care about being an outcast or about being somebody that may look bad. All I've got to do is win now, and I'm in the right situation."

Victor Oladipo had 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists in Friday's preseason game for the Orlando Magic against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"He's going to be great," Kyrie Irving said of Oladipo. "He's going to be great in this league. ... His potential is out of the roof."

Oladipo was the second overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

The Orlando Magic will honor Tracy McGrady in their home opener on November 1st against the New Orleans Pelicans.

McGrady will be honored at halfcourt and also be on the local broadcast doing color commentary.

McGrady retired in August after 15 NBA seasons.