MILWAUKEE -- In the National Basketball Association, fortunes can change quickly, even when down 20 at halftime, as the Atlanta Hawks found themselves Friday night.

But a couple of key defensive stops combined with a handful of timely shots and a healthy dose of pride can go a long way. The Hawks found that out, too, Friday, and as a result, ripped off a 40-point third quarter and overtook the Milwaukee Bucks down the stretch for a 114-110 victory at the Bradley Center.

"Coach got into us (at halftime)," said point guard Dennis Schroder. "He said the last two weeks we've gotten blown up, by all the teams basically. He said do whatever you have to do to come back. The team said we want to come out and compete and try to win this game, cut it down to 10 and go from there."

Schroder led the way, scoring a career-high 33 points but Paul Millsap led the charge in the third, hitting four of eight shots to score 11 of his 23 points. Atlanta also got two 3-pointers each from Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Dennis Schroder -- part of an 8-for-13 showing from beyond the arc during the quarter.

"We were getting stops and were able to get our momentum going," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "We were running off of our defense. Tim started making some shots. We got to the basket a little bit and Tim and Dwight (Howard) finished. Different guys stepped up and made plays."

Along with knocking down shots, ball movement sparked the Hawks' turnaround, with assists on 11 of their 14 shots.

"Our shots started falling but I think our mentality was different," Millsap said of the turnaround. "We missed a lot of easy stuff in the first half but in the second half, our mentality was right. We played the right way, we moved the basketball and our shots started to fall. That's what happens when you stay with the process and play good basketball."

Schroder was Atlanta's lone bright spot in the early going, scoring 17 in the opening quarter. But the rest of the Hawks combined to go 3-for-12 in the quarter, including 2-of-8 from distance while Milwaukee raced out to a 30-23 lead.

Things fell apart in the second as the Bucks sank 6 of 10 3-pointers and shot 60.9 percent overall to take a 34-21 lead into the break.

But Giannis Antetokounmpo spent most of the second half in foul trouble and aside from Jabari Parker, who scored nine of his team-leading 27 in the third, the Bucks lost any kind of flow on either end of the floor. They shot a paltry 35.6 percent over the final 24 minutes while allowing Atlanta to shoot at a 56 percent clip.

"The ball has to move," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "When we move the ball, we are at our best. Our defense as a whole was bad, for the second half. We have to get better."

Milwaukee still led by eight heading into the final quarter but Millsap tied it up at 103 on a layup with 4:18 to play and a Kyle Korver 3-pointer a minute later gave Atlanta its first lead since late in the opening quarter.

"It was a total letdown on both ends," Bucks center Greg Monroe said. "It just can't happen. I can't point to one thing. It just can't happen, especially at home.

Milwaukee led once more in the final minutes, going up 106-105 on a 3-pointer from Parker with 1:51 left but a driving layup from Schroder and a 3 from Hardaway put the Hawks out front for good.

"We've been getting our butts kicked out there on the court, losing by 40, losing by 30," Hardaway said. "Tonight was one of those nights where we were tired of it. We came out in the second half, played with great pace, great poise and took it three stops at a time. Make sure we got three stops in a row and hopefully we could score two out of the three times on the offensive end."

NOTES: Atlanta recalled F Mike Scott from Delaware of the D-League Friday, where he appeared in two games after being reassigned on Dec. 6. ... Bucks F Michael Beasley was available and played 23 minutes Friday despite suffering a mild sprain of the left foot in Milwaukee's game Wednesday against Portland. ... Dennis Schroder's 17 first-quarter points were the highest single-quarter total by an Atlanta player this season. ... The Hawks have won three straight contests against the Bucks.