It’s here, the week Kristaps Porzingis no doubt mentally circled when the Mavericks’ 2019-20 schedule came out in August.

On Friday night the Mavericks host Porzingis’ ex-team, the Knicks, in the first of two meetings in between the franchises in seven days. Motivation? Of course. Porzingis, though, pines more so for another reunion than these with his former team.

He wants his former self back. He wants to return to being the basketball player who, as a Knick, was 12 days from playing in his first All-Star game before he tore his left ACL on Feb. 6, 2018.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “I try not to beat myself up too much about it, but I’m the first person that wants to get out of this moment that I’m in.”

This particular moment was the immediate aftermath of Dallas’ one-point home win Wednesday night over Orlando, a game in which Porzingis scored 10 points and misfired on 10 of 14 shots.

After practice Thursday, Porzingis softened his harsh self-described “awful” performance agains the Magic.

“It felt much worse while I was playing than when I actually watched it,” he said. “So I kind of maybe overreacted a little bit. I think I’ve got to lower the expectations for myself, try to make it simple for myself.”

The wider-lens snapshot of his season-to-date is not at all dreary or concerning, though it’s understandably puzzling and naturally frustrating to an athlete of 7-foot-3 Porzingis’ caliber.

It’s been 21 months and three days (desk: as of Friday) since Porzingis went down in a heap on that awful night in Madison Square Garden. He toiled untold hours in the weight room and on practice courts to strengthen his body and shed physical and mental rust, but any notion that he would be peak-Porzingis upon his return was unrealistic.

Through seven games he is averaging 19 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Dallas has been outscored by 25 points when Porzingis is on the court. The Maverick with the next-worst plus-minus is Courtney Lee, at minus-13.

“I think his overall conditioning and his rhythm is something that’s going to happen over a longer period of time,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s such a great team guy that he wants everything to happen all at once, and it’s just something that simply is going to take some time.”

If this “rough” stretch, however long it lasts, is the worst Porzingis the Mavericks will see during his contract’s four guaranteed seasons plus an option year, the franchise and its fans will be elated.

The fact that Dallas is off to a 5-2 start, having lost double-digit leads in both defeats, is a windfall.

“I haven’t played well but once,” Porzingis said, presumably alluding to his 32-point, nine-rebound, five-assist, two-block performance in the loss to Portland. “And we have so much more room to grow as a team, and that’s the crazy thing. Myself, maybe other guys struggling in some moments, we’re still able to win some games.

“So once we put this thing together, we can be a force. And I’m looking forward to that.”

In postgame interviews this season, Porzingis has been unfailingly courteous and analytical and introspective, but his Wednesday night performance induced a deeper level of self-analysis that sounded like soul-searching.

Perhaps it was the presence of New York reporters and the impending two games against the Knicks, the franchise from which he acrimoniously split, demanding a trade that resulted in the seven-player, two-draft pick Jan. 31 deal that brought him to Dallas.

“I hold everything to myself sometimes too much because I want to figure it out by myself,” he said. “But I have a great support system around me . . . and there’s great people here in our organization.”

Porzingis singled out his physical therapist, Manolo Valdivieso, and Mavericks sports psychologist Don Kalkstein.

“It’s nothing wrong with me, but it’s good to talk to somebody sometimes,” Porzingis said.

Now is a good time to remind everyone that Porzingis is only 24. And that he is visibly more muscular, upper as well as lower body, than he was before the knee injury. He also emphasizes that he has had no difficulties with the knee.

No, he hasn’t immediately returned to being the player who was averaging 22.7 points before his injury, but his rebound average is 1.5 per-game higher than it was in 2017-18. His blocked-shots average is only one-tenth of a point lower and is sixth-best in the NBA.

Physically, there is no reason Porzingis can’t return to All-Star form. The question is how long will it take. The answer could well determine the Mavericks’ chances to break their three-season playoff drought.

Porzingis says his stamina is improving. He is playing 32.6 minutes per game, which essentially is what he averaged during the 2016-17 (32.8) and 2017-18 (32.4) seasons.

Porzingis says it’s his feel and rhythm that are most out of sync, and he’s concerned that opponents slapping the ball from his hands has led to a career-high turnover average (2.3).

Dips in his shooting percentages from 2017-18 are indicators of rustiness – from 43.9% to 41.2% from the field; 39.5% to 36.4% from 3-point distance; and 79.3% to 67.6% on free-throws.

Carlisle said he believes another factor is that the Mavericks’ uptempo flow offense is a departure from the structured sets that Porzingis’ national teams and teams in his youth ran.

After Wednesday’s game, Carlisle said of Porzingis “I’ve just got to get him better shots,” but on Thursday he declined to elaborate except to say, “I’m still tweaking some things. We’re going to find ways to get him some easier shots. But on many levels, this is a patience-type thing.”

Porzingis said getting acclimated to a new offense is “not easy,” but said he is communicating with Carlisle and his staff and that he believes the flow offense ultimately will suit his game.

“It’s not that all of a sudden you wake up in the morning and everything’s perfect and I’m getting the kind of shots I want to. It’s a process. It’s going to happen step-by-step, slowly.”

It’s likely that Porzingis would be further along had he played in some games with the Mavericks late last season after being medically cleared to practice.

But what’s done is done. Porzingis had 158 million reasons to not risk a physical setback. The Mavericks had just as much cause to protect the investment they committed to make in Porzingis the moment they agreed to the trade with New York.

Carlisle recalled the shoulder injury he suffered late in his NBA playing career, coincidentally while he was a Knick, during the 1987-88 season. It would be 17 months and 28 days before he next played in an NBA game, for New Jersey.

He was cut by Nets coach Bill Fitch five games into that season, then joined Fitch’s staff as an assistant.

“It was at the end of my very un-storied career, but I got a taste and a feel for what it was like to try to come back after being out a year,” Carlisle said. “It’s very challenging.

“He’s a lot younger than I was, and he’s a lot better athlete than I was, but I do know it takes time. He’s doing remarkably well, everything considered.”

Dennis Smith Jr, nears return

Knicks coach David Fizdale told reporters on Thursday that Dennis Smith Jr. was scheduled to fly to Dallas and rejoin the team later in the day.

It’s not likely, however, that Smith, whom the Mavericks drafted No. 9 overall in 2017 and last January traded him to the Knicks, will play on Friday.

Smith, who has averaged just 1.0 points and 8.7 minutes three appearances this season, has not played since Oct. 26, after which he took a leave of absence to be with his family after the death of his stepmother.

Staff Writer Callie Caplan contributed to this story.