EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Lakers were not quite the Lakers on Tuesday.

They were down 20 in the third quarter! They rallied to cut the lead to three, but faded and fell to the Denver Nuggets, 114-106. 

Game 4 of the Western Conference finals is Thursday night.

The Lakers hold a 2-1 series edge.

One area where the Lakers need to get back on track is rebounding. They were crushed on the boards, 44-25, by a typically light-rebounding Denver team in Game 3.

Anthony Davis, the Game 2 hero, had only two rebounds in 43 minutes. He did not have any until the fourth quarter, highly unusual for one of the game’s best players.

The Nuggets are 13th among the 16 playoff teams in rebounding, and yet they more than doubled the Lakers on the offensive end (9-4).

Rebounding is two things: good position and desire.

The Lakers did not show nearly enough of either in Game 3. They also had trouble containing Denver’s lesser-known players.

All-Star center Nikola Jokic is going to get his numbers. So is Jamal Murray.

They are that good.

But Jerami Grant scored a career-high 26 points after averaging only eight points in the series’ first two games. He somehow had 12 free-throw attempts in Game 3, signaling an unusual surge of aggressiveness for him.

Monte Morris was also strong for the Nuggets with 14 points in Game 3, pushing the pace as the backup point guard.

There was some good news for the Lakers.

Denver starters Gary Harris and Paul Millsap are still not playing well in this series, (Harris, in particular, is averaging only five points while shooting 28 percent.). 

In addition, LeBron James had his 26th career playoff triple-double with 30 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

The Lakers have some work to do.

Some thought they would sweep the series after taking a 2-0 lead. That obviously is not going to happen.

Two more wins are needed to advance to the NBA Finals.