Eric Gordon unlikely recipient of Clippers’ first technical foul of the season

Zero tolerance reached up and nailed an unlikely source.

Increased enforcement — one might say nit-picking — by the NBA’s referees was bound to result in one of the Clippers getting a technical foul the first week of the season.

The big surprise was that it wasn’t one of the demonstrative, often chatty big men, Chris Kaman or DeAndre Jordan, getting the first one.

How about the quietest Clipper, Eric Gordon?

Naturally, Gordon didn’t say anything to get the technical Wednesday in the third quarter against Portland. He merely gestured, hitting the spot on his arm where he thought he was fouled.

“I really didn’t do anything,” Gordon said. “I didn’t say a word. You basically can’t do anything to the refs at all. You just never know.”

Money for nothing and technicals for nothing.

He had never received one for silence.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “I just told him he hit my wrist — without saying anything and he called a tech. And that was it.”

Gordon speculated there would be an easing of the zero-tolerance approach.

“At some point they have to,” he said. “If you probably say something to the ref, you probably might get a tech. If you do a gesture, probably not.”

Clipper youth

Gordon was talking about the differences in the Warriors under new Coach Keith Smart, as opposed to the Don Nelson days.

“It seems to me like they play a little bit better in some ways,” Gordon said, having viewed their opener against Houston. “I think they’re better. Seems like they play a little better D.”

That was before the Clippers scored 54 points in the first half.

It’s easy to forget how young some NBA players are. Gordon, an Indiana native, was talking about Smart’s famous game-winning shot for Indiana in the 1987 NCAA championship game.

“I thought that was a great shot when I saw the game for the first time,” Gordon said.

Not live, of course. After all, Gordon wasn’t born until 1988.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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