The Los Angeles Lakers are in need of a win on Friday night when they face off against the Phoenix Suns. LeBron James and Co. are still trying to avoid the Play-In tournament by finishing in the Top 6 in the conference, and they will only be able to do this if they secure a win against the Suns on Friday. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they've received an unexpected injury update on the Dennis Schroder front ahead of the all-important matchup.

Dennis Schroder injury status vs. Suns

With a couple of hours before tipoff, the Lakers have suddenly listed Schroder as questionable to play with a neck injury, per beat reporter Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet. The official diagnosis is neck spasms, which does not sound overly concerning, but it could be serious enough to force the 29-year-old to sit out Friday's contest. The fact that he was added to the injury report so late is also something that's worth taking note of as well.

Unsurprisingly, the Lakers have now announced that Schroder has been downgraded to out of Friday's contest. Coach Ham also hinted at Schroder's possible absence for LA's final game against the Utah Jazz on Sunday due to “extreme neck soreness” as a result of “wear and tear” (h/t Michael Corvo of ClutchPoints).

In other injury news, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have both been tagged as questionable to play, but as has been the trend for LA, it should only be a matter of time before both stars are upgraded to available. The same should be the case for D'Angelo Russell, who himself is listed as probable.

Speaking of Phoenix, they will be resting their stars on Friday against the Lakers. Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton all won't be available, as the Suns have already locked up the No. 4 seed in the West.