Angel Reese torches Golden State with 30 and 16, and the Atlanta Dream finally win a Finals game
Angel Reese posted 30 points and 16 rebounds to lead Atlanta to a 79-65 victory in Game 2, giving the Dream the first WNBA Finals win in franchise history and tying the series 1-1 heading into Game 3 tonight at State Farm Arena.
In brief
Angel Reese torches Golden State with 30 and 16, and the Atlanta Dream finally win a Finals game
She said after Game 1 that she had let her team down. Ninety minutes before Monday's tip, she walked out of warm-ups at Chase Center and straight into a media scrum and made no excuses. She just promised it would be different.
It was.
Angel Reese delivered 30 points and 16 rebounds to carry the Atlanta Dream to a 79-65 victory over the Golden State Valkyries on Monday night in Game 2 of the 2026 WNBA Finals. The win gave Atlanta its first Finals victory in franchise history, following a dominant second-half performance that evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1.
The Dream had been swept in their previous three trips to the championship round, going 0-10 across those appearances. They did not just end that streak. They ended it with authority, in the building that booed Reese louder than any other visiting player, in front of the crowd Golden State calls Ballhalla.
"I let the team down last game," Reese said before the game. And when asked what changed in Game 2, her answer was simple: "I was hungry. We wanted one and we felt like we let one slip away."
A historic number next to her name
In front of a hostile Ballhalla crowd at Chase Center, Reese carried the Dream to the win with a playoff-career-high 30 points on 10 of 16 from the field, 16 rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks in 34 minutes. The stat line puts her in rare company. Reese became just the third player with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a Finals game, joining Jonquel Jones for Connecticut in 2019 and Breanna Stewart for Seattle in 2020.
At 24 years old, Reese entered Monday's game as the youngest player in the Dream's starting lineup and came out of it as the youngest player to record 30 points and 15 rebounds in a WNBA postseason game in league history.
The context matters. Reese had recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds in Game 1 but went scoreless in the second half as Golden State completed its comeback. That fourth quarter, when the Valkyries outscored Atlanta 19-8 to steal Game 1, did not leave Reese quietly. "We all came together and were [expletive]. We felt disappointed. We felt embarrassed and we didn't like the outcome of that last game," she said. "And we didn't want another one to let slip."
The Dream's third quarter in Game 2 told the whole story. Atlanta outscored Golden State 21-9 in the period, scoring 30 points off free throws after drawing 23 fouls, while the Valkyries committed 18 turnovers, 14 of which came directly off steals.
Howard rewrites the record book on defense
Reese was not the only one making history at Chase Center. Rhyne Howard set a Finals record with six steals, Allisha Gray added 18 points, and Jordin Canada contributed 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Howard had four fouls before halftime and still set the WNBA Finals record with six steals. She did it in 27 minutes. The WNBA confirmed it officially: "With six steals tonight, Rhyne Howard has broken the WNBA Finals record for most steals in a game."
Howard described what she saw from Reese before tip-off and its effect on the locker room. "Seeing her come out tonight, she had a completely different mindset," Howard said. "Nobody was satisfied with the outcome of Game 1. She came out and she really set the tone and we followed her lead."
Jordin Canada echoed that. "Angel is such a generational talent, just to see her thrive in the Finals has been really special to watch. You can just see that she wants it really bad. We feed off her energy."
Dream coach Karl Smesko said he knew what was coming before the opening tip. "I was like, 'Oh, I like that look,'" Smesko said, describing the moment he made eye contact with Reese in the locker room before the game. He called her performance "just fantastic, on both ends of the floor. Just a superior performance."
What comes next
Both franchises will be first-time champions regardless of who wins this series. Golden State eliminated the defending-champion Aces in the Western semifinals, while Atlanta knocked out the Liberty. Neither team has ever been here before. That parity makes what happens next genuinely open.
The series now shifts to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4. The Dream will host the Valkyries at State Farm Arena, looking to go up 3-1 before a potential Game 5 returns to the Bay Area. Game 3 tips Wednesday afternoon on USA Network and CNBC.
Reese already has a message for the city she plays for. "Atlanta, y'all better pull up and pop out. I'm looking forward to it," Reese said during her postgame interview.
The Valkyries held the Aces to 60 points in their semifinal sweep and looked like the league's best defensive team heading into this series. Golden State still leads this series 1-0, for exactly one more day.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
