Los Angeles  - Mike Brown, who guided the Cleveland Cavaliers to a league and franchise-best 66-win season, was named on Monday the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy, honouring the NBA Coach of the Year.

Brown received 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters to easily outdistance Houston's Rick Adelman (151), Orlando's Stan Van Gundy (150) and Portland's Nate McMillan (127 points).

"Mike Brown is a critical element as to why our franchise is growing into the kind of success we all envisioned and hoped to achieve," Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert said.