Golden State holds the Aces to a season-low 60 points, and now Las Vegas is banged up heading into Game 2
The Valkyries dominated the boards and suffocated the defending champions in Game 1, and the injury situation for both semifinal series got ugly fast. The Atlanta Dream held on against the Liberty without their leading scorer for most of Sunday's game.
In brief
Golden State holds the Aces to a season-low 60 points, and now Las Vegas is banged up heading into Game 2
The Golden State Valkyries came into Sunday's WNBA semifinal opener having lost all three regular-season matchups with the Las Vegas Aces. None of that mattered. Gabby Williams posted 25 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, Kiah Stokes swallowed up space in the paint with 14 boards and three blocks, and the Valkyries walked out of Chase Center with a 71-60 Game 1 win over the defending champions. They lead the best-of-five series 1-0, with Game 2 set for Wednesday night back in San Francisco.
Sixty points. Golden State held the reigning champion Aces to their fewest points all season, with Las Vegas' previous single-game low sitting at 66. That is a suffocation, not a win by a margin.
The boards decided it
Golden State dominated the glass, outrebounding the Aces 51-23 and outscoring them 20-3 on second-chance points. That rebounding edge is the story. Stokes pulled down 14 boards, half of them on the offensive glass, as the Valkyries finished with 17 offensive rebounds that turned into 20 second-chance points. Las Vegas could only generate five second-chance points off two offensive boards.
WNBA leading scorer and reigning MVP A'ja Wilson made 6 of 11 first-half shots for 15 points for the third-seeded Aces. She finished with 24, but Wilson had to work for her 24 points on 8-for-21 shooting, and the players around her gave the Valkyries nothing to worry about. Chelsea Gray went 5-for-14 for 16 points, and Jackie Young shot 4-for-15 and scored just 11.
Valkyries second-year forward Leonie Salaun received a rousing ovation when she entered with 2:25 left in the first quarter, right after being named WNBA Sixth Player of the Year before tip-off. Newcomer Aminata Gueye came off the bench to score nine points in 12-plus minutes for Golden State. The Valkyries won this not because one player went off, but because seven of them pushed and scraped and grabbed everything they could find.
Then Jewell Loyd went down
The result looked lopsided enough on its own. Then it got worse for Las Vegas. Aces guard Jewell Loyd was ruled out of the game after suffering a left leg injury, exiting early in the third quarter and never returning to Las Vegas' 71-60 loss. The Aces said she was being evaluated, while coach Becky Hammon did not have an immediate update on her condition following the game.
The injury adds another concern for Las Vegas after forward Stephanie Talbot missed Game 1 because of a left leg injury. The Aces now have two players with uncertain left-leg situations and two days to figure out who is available before Game 2.
The defending champion Aces had won all three of their regular-season matchups with Golden State. The Valkyries demonstrated that the postseason is a different scenario entirely.
In Atlanta, the Dream won and lost at the same time
The second semifinal Sunday, played earlier in the afternoon in Atlanta, produced its own injury drama. The Dream used a dominant third quarter to surge past the Liberty 92-82. They lost star guard Allisha Gray to a hand injury in the process, and her status for the rest of the series is unclear.
Gray initially injured her left shooting hand at the end of the first quarter, leaving for the locker room before returning early in the second period with her pinkie and ring finger taped. With less than four minutes left in the half, she appeared to reinjure the hand, went back down the tunnel, and was shortly after ruled out for the remainder of the game.
The four-time All-Star was the Dream's top scorer this season, averaging 19.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. She was also their top scorer during the first round, putting up 22 points and playing 35 minutes in each of Atlanta's two wins over Washington.
Atlanta won anyway. In Gray's absence, DeWanna Bonner stepped up with 23 points, nine rebounds, and three steals in 30 minutes off the bench, a performance that shifted the weight of the series picture considerably. Atlanta came away with nine steals in the third quarter alone and scored 16 points off turnovers in that quarter, tied for a WNBA playoff record in any quarter.
Dream coach Karl Smesko said after the win he had no update on Gray's condition. "Obviously, she's been a huge reason we've been so successful this year, and it was tough to see her not out there," Smesko said. "But really proud of how the team pulled together."
The fourth-seeded Dream, in the semifinals for the first time since 2018, defeated the eighth-seeded Liberty, a team with a championship and two Commissioner's Cups to their name, 92-82. Atlanta leads that series 1-0 as well.
What's at stake going forward
Both series are best-of-five, meaning each team that went down Sunday still has plenty of runway. But the injury picture tightened the margin fast. Las Vegas went into this series having beaten Golden State three straight times this year, with the Aces winning all three head-to-head matchups in the regular season. That history is now irrelevant. Golden State held Las Vegas to 33.9% shooting from the field in Game 1. If Loyd cannot go Wednesday, the Aces need Wilson to carry a larger share than even her MVP-caliber shoulders are designed to hold.
In the Dream-Liberty series, New York still has Breanna Stewart, who has been the best player in women's basketball for the better part of a decade. Stewart's run of dominance continued against the Lynx in the first round with a 34-point, 12-rebound effort, her third career 30-point playoff double-double. The Liberty won the first round, lost Game 1 of the semis, and remain very much alive. Game 2 of both series is Wednesday, October 7.
Karl Smesko will need an update on Gray before Wednesday arrives. Becky Hammon will need one on Loyd and Talbot. Both coaches are going to spend the next 48 hours in treatment rooms and film rooms simultaneously, trying to solve problems that nobody had a full answer to on Sunday night.
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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.
