Dwyane Wade has insisted that he has not suffered any setbacks in his recovery from a knee injury, despite missing the Miami Heat's pre-season win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The 31-year-old came to an agreement with Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra to sit out Monday's game and he claims that the decision was made to keep him fresh ahead of the new season.

"I've worked so hard and I'm still working hard," Wade told reporters. "When you put work in you want to see some results, so coming to training camp and seeing the results of the work I've put in, working with Tim (Grover, his longtime trainer) all summer, that part was good.

"But outside of that, it's a long season and I want to stay healthy for the majority of the season and the playoffs. I've got a bigger picture in mind."

"I've been practicing very hard, going very hard. I could play, but I just think it's smarter that in consecutive days of going so hard, just be smart today, rest a little bit, let my legs recover."

LeBron James has recently claimed that Wade looks "healthy" prior to the beginning of the new season.