Giannis Antetokounmpo hopes Khris Middleton can maintain his form for the Milwaukee Bucks all season.

Middleton scored a game-high 31 points as the Bucks crushed the Golden State Warriors 138-99 in the NBA on Christmas Day.

An All-Star in each of the previous two seasons, Middleton is averaging 29 points, nine rebounds and 6.5 assists through the opening two games.

Antetokounmpo, who had 15 points and 13 rebounds against the Warriors, is hoping to see Middleton continue starring.

"He's playing well, making shots, playing with high confidence, creating plays for others. It's good," he told a news conference.

"We need this from him. We need him to do this all year long. He's feeling good and you know when Khris feels good you've got to pass him the ball. He's playing to get his own shot but he's playing through everybody else, he's run to the corner, he's getting easy ones, easy looks.

"He's playing with high confidence right now and this team really needs that."

The win over the Warriors was the Bucks' first of the season after they lost their opener to the Boston Celtics.

Antetokounmpo believes Milwaukee will be better than the team eliminated in the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season after finishing with a 56-17 record.

"We're good. We're better. We have some great guys that we added to the team, they’re playing our way and once everything fits in together we're going to be good," he said.

"It's going to be fun to watch."