Five biggest hurdles for Warriors against Pelicans.

OAKLAND >> They feature redhot big man Anthony Davis and free-wheeling point guard Rajon Rondo. They have the NBA’s best midseason acquisition in Nikola Mirotic and they play at a whiplash-inducing pace.

The New Orleans Pelicans present a totally different playoff challenge for the Warriors starting Saturday at Oracle Arena. Your initial thoughts, Steve Kerr?

“Fortunately,” the Warriors coach deadpanned, “Alvin Gentry doesn’t really know what he’s doing.”

The line got a laugh. Kerr and the Warriors still love the Pelicans’ head coach from his days as an associate head coach on the Warriors team that won the 201415 NBA title.

But the challenge ahead? That’s no joke. The Pelicans demolished the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, a four-game sweep capped by Davis’ franchise playoff-record 47 points in Saturday’s clincher.

Here are the five biggest hurdles standing between the Warriors and the next round:

1. Containing A.D.

Against the Trail Blazers, Davis averaged 33.0 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 57.6 percent from the floor.

Warriors forward Kevin Durant, who kept his eye on the series, said the most impressive part was the creative ways in which Davis kept springing wide open. New Orleans got him the ball on pick-and-rolls and by tossing lobs into the low post. Davis created his own space, too, using dribble penetration before pulling up for a jumper.

The key to containing the 6-foot-10 menace, Durant said, is to harass the guys getting him the ball.

“We have to do a good job on Rondo and Jrue Holiday and those guys, as well,” Durant said late Tuesday night. “I know A.D. has had some big numbers, but those guys create for him a lot.”

JaVale McGee, who had solid stretches of low-post defense against LaMarcus Aldridge, said the tricky part of containing Davis is the sheer volume of touches.

“He creates a lot of matchup problems just because he gets the ball so much and shoots so much,” McGee said. “So that’s definitely what we’re going to have to focus on — and shutting down everybody else, also.”

2. Withstand the Backcourt Barrage

Holiday, the shooting guard, gave the Trail Blazers fits, too, by unleashing explosive drives or nailing pull-up jumpers. Holiday had 41 points in Game 4, including an 18-footer with 40 seconds left to squelch Portland’s late comeback bid.

In that same game, Rondo had 16 assists. That’s after a regular season in which he ranked fourth in the NBA with 8.2 assists per game and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.54).

“Yeah, they pose a threat,’’ Warriors guard Shaun Livingston said. “The way they play, they space the floor out. Gentry is a smart offensive-minded coach. Runs some good stuff for the guys and puts them in position to excel. Rondo does that as well. Pushes the pace and really orchestrates the offense.”

3. Remember Defense

Draymond Green, like Kerr, poked a little fun at the former Warriors assistant. Green said that Gentry will “definitely have some tricks up his sleeve offensively.”

But then he smiled wide. “Defense ain’t really Gen’s thing,” Green added. “He doesn’t love it. Gen will tell you, a million times in a row, ‘Nobody ever won a game 0-0.’ ”

Durant, sitting next to Green, nodded in agreement.

New Orleans finished third in the NBA in offense with 111.7 points per game. It was next to last in defense, allowing 110.4 per game. In terms of efficiency, the Pelicans were 10th in offensive rating and 14th in defensive rating.

A name to remember in the series: Darren Erman. He’s the assistant coach in charge of the Pelicans’ defense, as well as a former Warriors assistant. Green called him “a defensive mastermind.”

“Obviously, he knows a lot of us and coached us early on in our careers,” he said. “I know he’ll have some stuff up his sleeve as well.”

4. Mind Mirotic

The 23rd overall pick in 2011 is suddenly playing the best basketball of his career. The Chicago Bulls traded him to New Orleans on Feb. 1, and his steady play down the stretch helped the Pelicans clinch a playoff berth.

In the playoff sweep Mirotic averaged 18.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks — and provided a threat the Pelicans needed in the wake of DeMarcus

Cousins’ season-ending injury.

“It’s a different team with Mirotic,” Livingston said. “He helps space the floor and he’s been big for them. He’s pushing the tempo and getting out and running.”

As his Twitter handle — @ threekola — suggests, he’s a long-range shooter, which the Warriors know well. When the Pelicans beat the Warriors 126120 earlier this month, Mirotic scored 28 points on 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range.

5. Keep Pace

Against the Spurs, the Warriors found a way to grind it out. They held San Antonio under 99 points three times in the series. Playing methodically at times, the Warriors also avoided their biggest bugaboo — turnovers. In the decisive Game 5, they improved to 15-1 since 2014-15 when turning the ball over 10 time or fewer during the playoffs.

But the next series is all about the gas pedal. “They’re playing with an extra level of aggressiveness,” McGee said.

The Pelicans led the NBA in “pace factor,” according to basketball-reference.com. (The Warriors were fifth, the Spurs 28th).

“They spread you out,” Kerr said. “They make it very difficult to cover the whole floor. So we have our hands full.”