NEW YORK, May 24 (Xinhua) -- NBA Cavaliers fired coach Mike Brown as Cleveland Cavaliers was ousted from the National Basketball Association playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

Brown, who coached Cleveland for five seasons, had one year left on his contract.

Brown is the most successful coach in franchise history, finishing with a record of 272-138. He was the league's coach of the year in 2009.

Cleveland, which had the best record in the NBA regular season the past two seasons, had a 2-1 series lead over the Celtics before losing three straight, including the final two at home.

Cleveland had a midnight deadline on Sunday night to fire Brown or pay him his full 4.5 million dollar salary for next season.