Is Jimmy Butler playing through injury? Heat star dealing with 'bum ankle' in NBA Finals vs. Nuggets

While the Heat continue to stack up wins in pursuit of a historic NBA title, it appears as though Jimmy Butler is not quite himself.

Through two games in the Finals, Butler is averaging 17.0 points, 8.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds while shooting just 39.4 percent from the field. Perhaps the most telling sign of Butler being off is that he attempted no free throws in Game 1 of the series — it was the first time since Oct. 21 that he went an entire game without attempting at least one free throw.

After scoring a postseason-low 13 points in Game 1, Butler lamented his lack of aggression, vowing to attack the rim more in Game 2. And while Butler shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the line en route to 21 points in a Game 2 win, he shot just 7-for-19 from the field.

Early on, Butler was the star of these playoffs, taking the NBA by storm with signature scoring performances on incredible efficiency. Things have been a bit different since Butler went down with an injury late in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Is Butler still affected by the injury?

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What is Jimmy Butler's injury?

With five minutes remaining in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on April 30, Butler suffered a right ankle injury after colliding with Knicks forward Josh Hart on a drive to the basket.

Butler stayed in the game, but he attempted just one shot and was barely involved in any action on either end of the floor.

The injury was later ruled as a sprained right ankle and ultimately kept Butler out of Game 2 of the series.

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Is Jimmy Butler still injured?

It has been over a month since Butler sprained his ankle, but he has played in 13 games in that stretch with limited time for rest and recovery. He's also averaging just under 40 minutes per game in that span.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, Butler and the Heat faced the Celtics every other day, meaning he played in seven games in a span of 13 days, including four days that also included travel.

Miami got just two days of rest in between Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and that included a near four-hour flight from Boston to Denver.

Ahead of Game 1 of the Finals, Butler was asked about the status of his ankle.

"Nobody cares. ... I'm still expected to do my job at a high level if I take the floor, which I will," Butler said. "We're going to be OK. We're going to get the job done, bum ankle or not."

Butler's admission of having a "bum ankle" has been the most he's led on about the lingering impact on his game, but it does shed light on some of the ways in which he's clearly struggling.

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Jimmy Butler stats in NBA Playoffs

Through 19 games in the playoffs, Butler is averaging 27.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. And though the sample size is extremely small, he was on a historic pace prior to suffering his injury.

Since going down, Butler's scoring and efficiency have taken the biggest hits, with a marked difference in his output.

After scoring 30 or more points in four of his first six playoff games, Butler has done so just once in the last 13 games. He also shot at or above 50 percent from the field in each of his first six playoff games — he's done so twice in the last 13 games.