3 Key Takeaways From 76ers' Preseason Finale vs. Celtics

The Philadelphia 76ers capped off preseason play with a 125-120 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday might. The Sixers finished the preseason with a record of 1-3, and now they'll head into the start of their most highly anticipated regular season in recent memory next week.

But, before moving forward to the regular season, let's look at three key takeaways from the preseason finale.

1. Joel Embiid looked like his old self

In the first preseason game that he played in against the Brooklyn Nets, Joel Embiid didn't look great. He scored just six points in the game while coverting just one of his five attempts from the floor and committed eight turnovers.

Some rust was to be expected after a long offseason, but it wasn't an especially promising performance. Fast-forward to Friday night and Embiid looked like a different player.

Embiid was the best player on the floor against Boston (granted the Celtics played their backups for the entirety of the game) and he quickly showed fans in Philadelphia that he's still capable of dominating a game. The big fella played 29 minutes in the game and dropped 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor.

He also pitched in eight rebounds and five assists to round out the performance. And he added a highlight dunk for good measure.

With the season right around the corner, this was an extremely promising performance from Embiid, and it should provide 76ers fans with a major reason for optimism.

2. LeBron James is the table setter

We've now seen LeBron James play two preseason games in a 76ers uniform, and he's led the team in assists in both games. He tallied five assists in the preseason tilt against Brooklyn and tallied eight assists against the Celtics on Friday night. He probably would have had more assists against Boston if not for a couple missed shots on the part of his teammates, too.

If his two preseason performances are any indication, then the approach that James is entering the season with is pretty clear: He plans to serve as the table-setter for Philadelphia's offense. He's going to push the ball upcourt, spark fastbreaks, make the extra pass and set his teammates up for success. With so much talent around him, this approach makes sense from James, who is the best creator and playmaker on the team, by far.

That doesn't mean that James won't also be looking to score, because he will be, but it will be more a matter of picking his spots and stepping up in specific situations. Otherwise, he's going to do his best to make sure everyone around him eats.

3. Another solid performance from Jabari Walker

Jabari Walker had a very solid preseason for Philadelphia, and heading into the preseason finale I discussed why another productive performance could help him cement a spot for himself in the regular season rotation, and he answered the bell.

In 19 minutes against Boston, Walker tallied 13 points, four rebounds and two steals. He also shot 50 percent from the field and knocked down all five of his free throws.

With the way he played throughout the preseason, Walker likely earned himself some regular season rotation minutes at the start of the season.