Decisive surges in the second and third quarters at Sydney's Ken Rosewall Arena on Sunday set up the Giants third win from as many games.

The Firebirds dropped to 1-2 after losing the first away game of their campaign.

The Giants are outright first on the ladder though the West Coast Fever have also won their first three games, but are down in sixth due to a 12-point penalty for salary-cap breaches.

It was the Giants' highest score of the season after tallying 66 In each of their first two wins.

First-season Firebirds coach Megan Anderson played in multiple premiership-winning Sydney Swifts teams under current Giants mentor Julie Fitzgerald.

On Sunday they pitted their wits against each other for the first time in a competition game.

"I always knew Megs (Anderson) would be a great coach and she'll do good things with that team," Fitzgerald said.

Giants' shooter and co-captain Jo Harten contributed 47 points and combined well with teenager Sophie Dwyer.

Harten noted similarities between the current group and the combination which went all the way to the grand final four years ago.

"It does feel like that kind of exciting mixture of youth and experience which we had in 2017," Harten said.

There was little between the side in the first 23 minutes, with the scores level at quarter time and neither side leading by more than two, until the Giants made their move.

A second quarter 17-6 run in favour of the home team gave them a 10-point lead, which was down to seven by halftime.

The visitors got back to within four before they were outscored 10-1 in the last six minutes of the third quarter, with the Firebirds missing all four of their Super Shot attempts, while the Giants made two.

That 13-point margin at three-quarter time proved insurmountable for Queensland, though a late surge allowed them rescue the margin to single digits.

"There was a bit of a lull In the third quarter which probably gave them a bit of momentum into the fourth," Anderson said.

"I think If we had have held tough a little bit longer in the third quarter then the fourth quarter might have been different.

"We all tried hard individually but we were just a little bit disconnected from each other and don't really know what that was from, so I'm going to go back and have a look."

Australian Associated Press