Yes, it’s different from Excel tables. @wtallis probably explained it better, but I’ll give it another shot:

A “spreadsheet” or tab in Numbers is like a canvas where you can put tables, text boxes, , charts or shapes.

The classic spreadsheet is one of these table objects. If you want it to behave like a classic spreadsheet, you can have a single table object that takes the whole canvas; otherwise, you can have multiple. Each is like a spreadsheet with columns and rows; formulas can refer to cells in other tables.

It’s handy to create dashboard-like views or visually organize your work.

In other words, Excel tables are a special region in your spreadsheet; Numbers tables are individual spreadsheets on a canvas.