Julius Randle was beside himself after the New York Knicks got embarrassed when they visited the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. The Knicks got their faces punched right off the bat by Nikola Jokic and the rest of the home squad as they were up by as many as 22 points in the opening quarter.

The Knicks played so badly from the get-go, Jokic outscored them, 24-12 in the first period. After the game, Randle didn't hold his tongue in his assessment (via Steve Popper of Newsday Sports).

“I'm throwing this one in the trash.”

Embarrassing is an understatement for the Knicks' poor performance. They seemed to lack energy all evening and couldn't muster enough composure to come back from an early explosion from Jokic, the NBA's leading MVP candidate.

The Knicks had three immediate fouls in the first 22 seconds of the game and coach Tom Thibodeau was slapped with a technical foul six seconds after. They finished the opening quarter shooting just 4-of-24 from the field, which pretty much set the tone for the rest of the evening. Randle finished with just 14 points.

It was definitely a wake-up call for Randle and the rest of the Knicks. Prior to the tough loss, they had won 12 of their last 13 games as they propelled themselves all the way to the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference.

Julius Randle and company need to compose themselves and forget about the loss to the Nuggets. They need to bounce back quickly as the surging Atlanta Hawks are just a game-and-a-half behind.