2001 NLCS recap

In a series loaded with Cy Young Award winners and future Hall of Fame pitchers, this one opened with a beauty: Randy Johnson vs. Greg Maddux. While Maddux allowed just two runs over seven innings, the Big Unit tossed a three-hit shutout to give Arizona a 1-0 lead in the series.

Tom Glavine dominated the D-backs in Game 2 and was backed by three homers, including Javy Lopez's tie-breaking two-run shot in the seventh inning, as Atlanta's 8-1 victory salvaged a split.

The D-backs -- who had just won their first postseason series in their fourth year as a franchise -- then dominated the Braves at Turner Field. Curt Schilling's four-hitter in Game 3 started that momentum. Craig Counsell, the series MVP, had a two-run double that chased Maddux in an 11-4 rout in Game 4, and Johnson combined with closer Byung-Hyun Kim for a 3-2 clincher in front of a hushed crowd of 35,652 in Atlanta.

That set the stage for a World Series showdown against the Yankees, a team widely supported in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the previous month.

As for the Braves, once a fixture in the League Championship Series, they were done on this stage for quite some time. Their division-title streak was far from over, but they would come up empty in postseason series until 2020.

Path to the NLCS
NLDS: Arizona over St. Louis (3 games to 2); Atlanta over Houston (3 games to 0)

Managers: Bob Brenly, ARI; Bobby Cox, ATL

MVP: Craig Counsell