MILWAUKEE -- A big problem for the Milwaukee Bucks this season has been playing to their level of competition; they've put forth some of their best performances against the league's blue bloods but also have laid some of their biggest eggs against teams buried way beneath them in the standings.

So after back-to-back tough losses to the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers earlier in the week, it wasn't completely irrational to think the Bucks might stumble Friday night against the Washington Wizards, who arrived in Milwaukee 10th in the conference standings, 1 1/2 games behind the Bucks.

But there was no letdown Friday. Instead, the Bucks came out red hot and rode career scoring highs from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Malcom Brogdon to a 123-96 rout of the Wizards at the Bradley Center.

"I thought the team played great," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "What was special about tonight was we didn't call Giannis' number; the ball found him and he delivered."

Antetokounmpo set the tone, knocking down 12 of 19 shots and 15 of 17 free throws to finish with 39 points, surpassing his previous career high of 34. Antetokounmpo also grabbed eight rebounds with six assists, two steals and a blocked shot in 32 minutes of work.

Brogdon, Milwaukee's second-round pick in last summer's draft, sank three 3-pointers and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field to finish with 17.

In all, Milwaukee had five players score in double-figures while shooting 56.3 percent from the floor and 9-for-25 from beyond the arc.

Washington got 18 each from John Wall and Otto Porter while Markieff Morris kicked in 14 and Bradley Beal 10. The Wizards shot 46 percent and made 7 of 24 3s but gave up 19 points on 15 turnovers.

"Everything went wrong," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. "We were giving up backdoors, offensive rebounds. Straight line drives. We weren't good tonight. There's no way around it. They outplayed us, they outworked us so we have to do better. (We gave up) too many points in the paint; too many layups -- I think they had 20 layups in the first half. We can't do that. We can't expect to win on the road against a very athletic team giving up easy buckets around the paint. That's what they do. We didn't make them play to their weakness at all."

After back-to-back tough losses to the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers, the Bucks came out firing against the Wizards.

Milwaukee knocked down 15 of 22 shots in the opening quarter to take a 37-29 lead.

The Wizards heated up in the second and connected on 11 of 18 attempts but the Bucks kept pace and stretched their lead to 20 before going into the break up, 73-58, the most points the Wizards have allowed in one half this season.

"One out of five games, you're going to get your (butt) whupped," Wall said. "Tonight, we got our (butts) whupped -- in all phases of the game. We reverted back to our old defensive ways, that's not how to beat these guys. They made adjustments and did a great job. It's just one of those games that you get whupped in every single category you can look at."

Antetokounmpo scored 24 in the first half including 14 in the second quarter. He had 30 points when he came back in the game with 1:37 left in the third and after Brogdon buried a 3-pointer to make it a 20-point game, Antetokounmpo hit an 11-footer to send the Bucks into the fourth up 100-78.

Brogdon fed him for an alley-oop dunk in the opening minute of the final quarter then went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line before coming out of the game with 6:02 left as the announced crowd of 15,921 chanted "M-V-P."

"I was like, Wow. ... But I'm not there yet. I'm going to keep working hard. Keep helping my team to do great things and get wins. Hopefully, I can get there one day."

NOTES: Bucks F Michael Beasley was expected to return to action Friday after missing the last four games with a sprained left foot, but was a late scratch and did not dress. Beasley has appeared in 23 games this season, averaging 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.7 minutes of action. ... Milwaukee was without G Rashad Vaughn, who suffered a sprained left ankle earlier in the week. ... Wizards F Otto Porter was available Friday despite suffering from back spasms the last few days. The issue limited him to just 12 minutes of action Wednesday night in a 109-97 victory. ... Washington had won eight of its last 10 games against Milwaukee. The two teams meet again Monday in Washington.