HALIFAX—If you’re going to learn, Xavier Rathan-Mayes understands, you might as well learn from the best.

Rathan-Mayes found himself in California earlier this year getting an advanced course in point guard play from one of the best to play the position. And the nuances that he picked up from future hall-of-famer Steve Nash are paying dividends for Rathan-Mayes as a professional and with the Canadian national team.

“Working with somebody who is so talented, so special, so smart was really good for me,” Rathan-Mayes said before Canada opened World Cup qualifying with a 93-69 win over Bahamas on Friday. “Learning how to kind of break the court down into pieces and be able to figure out plays ahead of other players, that was huge for me, just seeing from his perspective and trying to incorporate his stuff into what I do.”

The 23-year-old from Markham had 11 points and four assists in 21 minutes of the easy victory, helping Canada to a 28-point first-half lead.

It was just an extension of a solid year of growth for the six-foot-four guard who plays for the Westchester Knicks in the G League. He spent time in Los Angeles working with Nash — Rathan-Mayes is represented by the same agency that handled Nash in his career, plus there’s Nash’s connection to the Canadian program — and caught on with New York’s summer league team, eventually earning a training camp invite with the NBA club.

He averages 11.3 points and 6.3 assists per game with the G League Knicks.

“I think he’s maturing, I think he’s understanding he doesn’t have to be necessarily be a scorer or a big-time scorer in order to be an incredible point guard,” said Roy Rana, Canada’s interim head coach. “He’s starting to round that out. Not that he can’t score, he can really put the ball in the bucket if he needs to, but he’s really focused on the defensive end of the floor. He’s really become much more of a composed point guard, getting his team involved.

“Like I’ve told him, he’s capable of a triple-double every night and we’re seeing that in the G League right now with what he’s doing with Westchester. He’s really, really taken another step in his career.”

Rathan-Mayes credits the coaching staff in Westchester with helping improve his game — “We watch a lot of film and just pick points on the court where I can be better and pick areas where I can be effective and efficient,” he said.

That was evident in Canada’s win over Bahamas. Rathan-Mayes was aggressive offensively when he needed to be but was more effective as a facilitator, and his ability to anticipate the movement of his teammates led to repeated open looks. He’ll need a repeat performance in what should be a far more difficult game on the road at Dominican Republic on Monday night.

“What to know and what to expect before it happens,” Rathan-Mayes said of the approach. “That comes in film study, in knowing everyone around you, knowing your players, what your coaches want, knowing where certain guys like the ball and stuff like that.”