basketball game vs basketball

basketball game and basketball both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
basketball game	Yes	No	No	No
basketball	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, basketball game and basketball are synonyms defined as:

basketball game and basketball: a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop

Other synonyms of basketball game include hoops.

basketball game (noun)	basketball (noun)
a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop	a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop
	an inflated ball used in playing basketball